
Marubeni Power Retail, a power retailer wholly-owned by Japan’s trading house Marubeni, signed a virtual PPA with Tokyo Metro, the operator of the larger of Tokyo’s two subway systems on July 1, 2024, the two companies announced last week.
As part of the virtual PPA, Tokyo Metro will purchase renewable energy certificates generated at multiple small-scale hydro power plants not under the feed-in-tariff scheme totaling 5MW from Marubeni Power Retail. The certificates are expected to amount to approximately 35GWh per year.
The PPA is expected to lead to an annual CO2 emission reduction of approximately 13,650 tons or approximately 4% of Tokyo Metro’s total emissions.
According to the Japan Energy Hub PPA database, this is Tokyo Metro’s second PPA. In April 2023, the company disclosed a sub-1MW virtual PPA with Mitsubishi HC Capital Energy. While Marubeni Power Retail disclosed its involvement in multiple off-site and virtual PPAs in the past, this is the company’s first disclosed deal involving hydro power plants.