GE Energy Financial Services and Pacifico Energy Partner on a Third Solar Transaction in Japan
March 31 2015 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
GE unit (NYSE:GE) GE Energy Financial Services and Virginia
Solar Group subsidiary Pacifico Energy have partnered for a third
time to construct a solar power project in Japan. GE Energy
Financial Services and Virginia Solar Group will jointly invest
equity in a 96.2-megawatt (DC) photovoltaic solar plant, with GE
Energy Financial Services’ commitment totaling ¥7.5 billion.
Construction of the plant is underway in Hosoe on Kyushu Island, in
the prefecture of Miyazaki. A ¥35 billion term loan facility with a
22-year tenor – led by The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. as
the sole and exclusive mandated lead arranger – was provided on a
non–recourse project finance basis with a syndicate of 12 Japanese
financial institutions. Additional transaction details have not
been disclosed.
Pacifico Energy is the project developer managing construction
and operations of Hosoe, which is being built on 140 hectares of
land that was originally intended for a golf course. Once complete,
it will be the largest solar power plant on Kyushu Island and
consist of approximately 300,000 photovoltaic modules supplied by
Trina Solar. Toyo Engineering Corporation is the construction
company on the project, and Asahi Dengyo is providing operations
and maintenance services. In addition to capital, GE is supplying
the project with 50 units of 1.26-megawatt Brilliant solar
inverters, which eliminate the need for an intermediate
transformer, resulting in higher conversion efficiency and superior
grid performance.
Hosoe is expected to begin commercial operations in the spring
of 2018 and will sell its power to Kyushu Electric Power Company
under a 20-year power purchase agreement. It is expected to
generate enough clean energy to power up to 30,000 households and
avoid 68,200 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
By 2020, Japan aims to have 20 percent of its energy generated
from renewable power sources, a goal which is supported by the
country’s regulatory policies and feed-in tariff. Sushil Verma, a
managing director and head of Asia Pacific at GE Energy Financial
Services, notes that Hosoe is the third transaction between GE
Energy Financial Services and Pacifico Energy that contributes to
the country’s renewable energy goals.
“We aim to continue helping Japan achieve a diversified power
mix. Working with reliable and regional counterparties supports our
international expansion and renewable energy investment
commitments,” Verma says.
GE Energy Financial Services has made equity and debt investment
commitments of $1.9 billion in nearly two gigawatts of solar power
projects worldwide, and plans to continue to invest over $1 billion
annually in renewable energy projects. Hosoe is the fourth Japan
solar project in which GE Energy Financial Services has invested
since last May. Last year, the company invested in Pacifico
Energy’s Kumenan and Mimasaka Musashi solar projects in May and
December respectively, and in September, the GE unit helped finance
Japan’s largest solar project, which is being built in Setouchi
City.
Kazuomi Kaneto, president of Pacifico Energy K.K. added “We are
excited about partnering again with GE on Japan’s third largest
solar power plant, and the largest in the country which is invested
100 percent by foreign financial institutions. This investment,
leveraging the extensive development experience of our team, helps
Japan achieve 20 percent of its power generated from renewable
sources.”
Pacifico Energy has started construction on 75 megawatts (DC) of
solar power projects in Japan in 2014 and is set to start
construction in early 2015 on another 149 megawatts (DC). The
company currently has another 300 megawatts (DC) in
development.
Note to Editors:
View a rendering of Hosoe, here.
About Pacifico Energy K.K.
Founded in 2012 to help meet Japan’s domestic energy needs,
Pacifico Energy is a Japanese power plant development company
focused on solar photovoltaic projects. Pacifico Energy covers all
aspects of solar power plant development, including permitting,
design, financing, construction, and asset management. Based in
Tokyo, Pacifico Energy’s strength is in its team and investment
partners consisting of professionals with deep solar industry and
energy experience. For more information please see:
www.pacificoenergy.jp
About Virginia Solar Group
Pacifico Energy is owned by investor group Virginia Solar and
affiliated with the Jamieson Group, a California based oil &
gas/real estate enterprise with annual revenues of over USD $800
million.
About GE Energy Financial Services
GE Energy Financial Services—GE’s energy investing
business—works as a builder, not just a banker, to help meet the
world’s power and fuel needs. We offer more than
money—expertise—for essential, long-lived and capital-intensive
power, oil and gas infrastructure—GE’s core business. Drawing on
GE’s energy technical know-how, financial strength and risk
management, we see value where others don’t and take on our
customers’ toughest challenges with flexible equity and debt
transaction structures. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, GE Energy
Financial Services holds approximately $16 billion in assets. More
information: www.geenergyfinancialservices.com. Follow GE
Energy Financial Services on Twitter: @GEEnergyFinServ
About GE
GE (NYSE:GE) imagines things others don’t, builds things others
can’t and delivers outcomes that make the world work better. GE
brings together the physical and digital worlds in ways no other
company can. In its labs and factories and on the ground with
customers, GE is inventing the next industrial era to move, power,
build and cure the world. www.ge.com
Media:Japan Inquiries:Pacifico EnergyHio Cho, +81
3 4540 7837hcho@pacificoenergy.jporGE JapanSumito Koike, +81 3 5544
3847sumito.koike@ge.comorUS Inquiries:GE Energy Financial
ServicesJaclyn Cole, +1-203-961-2934jaclyn.cole@ge.com
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