Tokyo-based ITOCHU Corporation plans to construct a large-scale solar power plant and engage in a power generation business on the premises of Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Oita Works in Oita, Oita Prefecture, through an operating company jointly established with Kyudenko Corporation and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. The operating company has already concluded a loan agreement concerning the project with a syndicate of banks organized by Mizuho Bank, Ltd.

The power plant is scheduled to be completed and to start commence operation from March 2016. When completed, the project will generate 44,800 kW of power, and the predicted annual electric-generating capacity would be 52,500, 110 kWh, an amount that is equivalent to the annual power consumption of approximately 9,300 regular homes. This will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 32,000 tons a year.

The generated power will be sold to Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc for a period of twenty years. With the inclusion of this project, the total renewable energy-based generating output owned by ITOCHU (on an equity interest basis) in five countries around the world will reach about 470MW. By actively promoting power generation projects that utilize renewable energies in Japan and overseas through projects such as this one, ITOCHU will contribute to the formation of a recycling-oriented society while taking into account environmental conservation issues such as the prevention of global warming.