Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) — Developers have canceled or
abandoned 1,820 megawatts of solar power projects in Japan as
the government investigates whether approved developments are
moving ahead as planned.
So far, 647 projects have been canceled or abandoned after
getting approval in fiscal 2012, Yoichi Kimura, an official in
charge of clean energy projects for the ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry, said at a taskforce meeting yesterday.
The canceled capacity is equal to 9.7 percent of the total
non-residential solar capacity approved in fiscal 2012,
according to the ministry. METI plans to investigate another 351
cases, worth 2,700 megawatts, which have yet to secure either
land or equipment after approvals in fiscal 2012, according to
Kimura.
From April 1 this year, the ministry has required solar
projects to secure land and equipment within six months of
getting approvals. It’s conducting similar investigations for
projects approved in fiscal 2013.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at
cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Iain Wilson, Keith Gosman