Sumitomo Mitsui Construction completed the construction of its first feed-in-premium (FIP) floating solar power plant on March 31, 2025, the company announced on April 25, 2025. Commercial operation is scheduled to begin on May 1, 2025.
The 1MWAC/1.6MWDC Kato City Floating Solar Power Plant was built on two adjacent agricultural reservoirs owned by the city and managed by the local district. It uses a floating mounting system developed by Sumitomo Mitsui Construction.
Once operational, the output will be sold to NTT Anode Energy under a 25-year PPA. Sumitomo Mitsui Construction won a 9.99 yen per kWh feed-in-tariff (FIT) for the project in FY2022’s first solar auction but had to convert it to the market-based FIP scheme to enable the bilateral deal.
The completion of the power plant brings Sumitomo Mitsui Construction’s solar portfolio to 10 projects including eight floating projects. The Japan Energy Hub PPA database shows that in addition to FIT assets, the company also operates non-FIT/non-FIP power plants under PPAs with Izumisano City and Honda Motor.
Sumitomo Mitsui Constructions’s 2022-2024 medium-term management plan targeted its renewable generation capacity to grow to 40MW by 2024 and 150MW by 2030. Its FY2024 annual report and METI FIT/FIP ID database suggest the company might have fallen short of the 2024 goal given its activities are limited to solar and its power plants are generally high-voltage, sub-2MWAC. The company has not published its next medium-term management plan yet.
