Orix Group and Sharp jointly announced the completion of a forest-mingled solar PV power plant “Sharp Tomatoh no Mori Solar Power Plant” in Tomakomai City, Hokkaido, Japan. The 45.6MWdc plant will commence operation on January 1^st, 2016 and will be operated by its developer, the joint venture “Tomakomai Solar Energy” formed by the two companies.

Covering a land of approximately 1,414,000m2, the Sharp Tomatoh no Mori Solar Power Plant preserves the original forest by installing 183,624 Sharp’s 245/250W PV panels on vacant ground amidst the trees – the term “(no) mori” means “forest” in Japanese. The preserved forest area measures 25% of the whole land, which is rent from Tomatoh zone.

Tomakomai Solar Energy has 70% investment from Orix and 30% from Sharp. The JV launched the project construction on December 13, 2013, and completed construction on December 18, 2015. On the inauguration ceremony held on December 24, it was announced that the plant will start operation since the first day of 2016. The Tomatoh plant is expected to generate approximately 5,100,000kWh of clean electricity per year, enough for powering 14,100 average Japanese homes.

In addition to Sharp-produced PV modules, the plant utilizes power conditioners (inverters) provided by Fuji Electric. Sharp provided EPC services of the plant as well as the O&M services in the future.