Taiyo Green Energy commissioned two floating solar power plants in Hyogo Prefecture on February 28, 2025, its parent Taiyo Holdings announced on April 1, 2025. The assets with a combined 2.52MW output are used for an off-site PPA with group company Taiyo Pharma Tech.
Under the PPA, the two power plants’ generation, expected to be around 2.98GWh annually, is being supplied to Taiyo Pharma Tech through Osaka Gas with its subsidiary Daigas Energy acting as intermediary. The pharmaceutical company has a factory, which also serves as its headquarters, in Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture.
The power plants, owned by Taiyo Green Energy’s special purpose company (SPC) TGE Floating Solar No. 1 LLC include the 1.67MW No. 2 Reservoir Floating Solar Power Plant in Kakogawa City and the 841kW Nagaho Reservoir Floating Solar Power Plant in Inami Town, which are expected to generate about 1.98GWh and 1 GWh per year, respectively.
Since commissioning its first floating solar power plant, a 1MWAC asset in Saitama Prefecture, in October 2015, Taiyo Green Energy’s operational floating solar portfolio grew to 18 power plants in eight prefectures. Most are operated under the feed-in-tariff (FIT) scheme. The most recent project prior to the latest two, a 1MW power plant in Izumisano City, Osaka Prefecture, was the company’s first power plant monetized through a corporate PPA.
Focusing on floating solar power plants allows Taiyo Green Energy to get around the increasing shortage of land suitable for developing solar projects while benefiting from improved panel efficiency due to cooler ambient temperatures over water. Other companies including Shizen Energy and SMFL Mirai Partners, which acquired floating solar operator Suiden Mizuumi Ichi last year, are exploring the business, too.
