A couple of big new solar PV projects in Greece and Japan have just been announced.
In Greece, Italy-based Energy Resources Ltd and China Development Bank have teamed up on a contract for a 32-MW solar PV park. The €50 million project is supposed to be completed in less than a year, by the end of 2013.
While a Chinese and an Italian company are clearly going to benefit, Greek solar installers are also supposed to get a piece of the pie.
In Japan, big solar supporter Softbank is planning to develop an 111-MW solar PV park in Tomakomai, Hokkaido prefecture. This solar project is expected to be up and running in March 2015.
Japan is clearly a booming solar market. It’s expected to be the world’s second-largest solar PV market in 2013, only behind China; and Japanese banks have projected that the Japanese solar market will be worth $19 billion in the next few years.
Softbank became passionate about clean, solar energy following the onslaught of the Fukushima disasters. Since then (and since the implementation of Japan’s generous solar feed-in tariff), Softbank has invested in a 39.5 MW solar PV power plant in the city of Yonago, and it has also launched an initiative to get solar panels on 1,000 Japanese homes.
Despite its name, Softbank is actually a cell phone company (at least, that has been its focus). It is based in Tokyo and is the third-largest cellphone carrier in Japan. But hey, with the solar market booming in the country right now, who wouldn’t consider getting involved in some way?
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