Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) — Canadian Solar Inc. said only one of
its Japanese solar power developments is affected by a decision
by local utilities to suspend approvals for access to the grid
by renewable-energy projects.
The 2.3-megawatt plant has yet to win approval from Kyushu
Electric Power Co. as the utility is studying its connection
capacity, Canadian Solar said today in a statement.
Japanese utilities are reviewing capacity as applications
by renewables for grid access have increased. Shikoku Electric
Power Co. said last month it would temporarily suspend grid
access to new renewable energy projects. That followed moves by
Kyushu. Tohoku Electric Power Co., Hokkaido Electric Power Co.
and Okinawa Electric Power Co. are also restricting access to
varying degrees, even as Japan pushes to boost renewables.
Canadian Solar said 10 of its Kyushu projects, with 95.6
megawatts, have full approval and are moving ahead as planned.
Three projects totaling 135 megawatts are planned in
regions covered by Tohoku Electric and are expected to gain
approval eventually, it said. The developments are slated to
open in late 2016 or 2017 and “allow sufficient time to
accommodate the utility’s grid capacity study,” it said.
Canadian Solar said projects planned in regions covered by
utilities in Hokkaido, Okinawa and Shikoku aren’t affected. It
plans to raise its late-stage pipeline in Japan to as high as
600 megawatts by the end of 2014, according to the statement.
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
Tony Barrett