Solariant Capital Closes Financing on a 50 MW Biomass Power Plant Project in Ibaraki, Japan

Solariant Capital, along with its equity partners, Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co., Ltd., and Bio Fuel Co., Inc., have closed financing on a 50 MW biomass power generation project, developed by Solariant Capital, in Kamisu City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.

On September 30, 2019, Solariant Capital, along with its equity partners, Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co., Ltd., and Bio Fuel Co., Inc., have closed financing on a 50 MW biomass power generation project, developed by Solariant Capital, in Kamisu City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.

The biomass plant project will be constructed, operated and managed through Kamisu Biomass Power Generation LLC, a joint venture project company among the four partners with a senior project debt arranged by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Ltd. and mezzanine debt through Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co., Ltd. The 50 MWp plant will be utilizing biomass fuel, primarily palm kernel shell (by product of palm oil) and wood pellets to produce approximately 350 GWh’s of electricity annually, which is equivalent to an amount consumed by 110,000 households in Japan. The fuel for the biomass plant will be provided based on long-term supply contracts with 4 Japanese trading houses. The plant will also utilize wood pellets produced by Lumino Biomass Fuel, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Solariant Capital LLC.

The EPC general contractor is a joint venture entity between Hitachi Zosen and Okumuragumi with the CFB boiler and the generator from General Electric Co and Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corp, respectively. The O&M contractor is JERA, one of the largest independent power producers in Asia. The construction of the plant will begin at the end of 2020 and is scheduled to start operation in July 2023. The energy generated by the power plant will be sold to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) at a fixed rate of 24 yen plus value added taxes per kWh for 20 years under the current feed-in tariff program (renewable energy subsidy program). Japan enacted its current renewable energy subsidy program in July of 2012.

About Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. Chubu Electric Power is a Japanese utility company established in 1951 and headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. It is one of the top three electric utility companies in Japan in terms of power generation capacity, electric energy sold, with a total assets of over 5.4 trillion JPY as of March 2019.

About Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co., Ltd. Founded in 1971, Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance leverages its flexibility as a nonbank and its knowledge of various products to address a diverse range of customer needs by expanding upon the functions we offer, from lease finance, corporate finance, service provision, business participation, to business operation.

About Bio Fuel Co., Inc. Founded in 2005, Bio Fuel is a Tokyo based company that handles planning, design, and construction of fuel production facilities as well as the development of renewable energy resources and consulting on natural energy.

About Solariant Capital LLC/Co., Ltd. Solariant Capital is a utility scale renewable energy project development and finance company, focusing on solar and biomass projects in Asia and North America with its offices in Pasadena, California, Tokyo, Japan, Manila, Philippines, Seoul, Korea, and Hanoi, Vietnam. Solariant Capital and its wholly owned subsidiary Lumino Capital are currently developing a number of solar and biomass projects in Japan, Philippines and the U.S., as well as energy wood plantations and biomass pellet plants in S.E. Asia.

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For further information, contact:    

Daniel Kim, CFA         
Managing Director 
Solariant Capital, LLC 
+1 213-364-1414 
+81-80-3986-6554 
Pasadena, CA / Tokyo, Japan 
[email protected]