Tokyo Metro and J-SOLAR, a wholly-owned subsidiary of J-POWER, signed a 20-year virtual PPA through which the latter will supply the former with 3.9GWh of worth renewable energy certificates per year, the two companies announced on September 17, 2024. The PPA was signed on August 8, 2024.
J-SOLAR will supply Tokyo Metro from the 1.999MWAC “Himeji City Oshio Solar Power Plant,” which it first announced this March. Construction work on the power plant started the same month and, according to J-POWER’s press release from that time, the power plant is scheduled to be commissioned in October 2024.
Tokyo Metro expects to reduce its CO2 emissions by 1,521 tons per year through this PPA. According to the Japan Energy Hub PPA database, this is Tokyo Metro’s third disclosed PPA. Previously, the company signed a 0.9GWh/year solar PPA with Mitsubishi HC Capital Energy and a 3.5GWh/year small hydro PPA with Marubeni Power Retail. The transit system operator’s previous two PPAs are virtual as well.
By opting for a virtual PPA, the contract parties can avoid the complication of needing to transfer physical power between the TSO area in which the power is located and the TSO area in which power is consumed. In the case of the newly disclosed PPA, the power plant is in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, in the Kansai TSO area while Tokyo Metro’s operations, and thus consumption, are in the Tokyo TSO area.
