RENOVA and Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. announced on May 9 that they have signed a virtual PPA (power purchase agreement) for a new solar power plant. Daiichi Photovoltaic Power Generation LLC (Chuo-ku, Tokyo), a consolidated subsidiary of RENOVA, will sell directly to Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. the environmental value derived from the newly developed photovoltaic power plant.
Example of RENOVA's low-voltage commercial solar power plant development
(source: RENOVA)
After securing additionality by installing a new solar power plant without using the feed-in tariff (FIT), a virtual PPA scheme will be used to separate the environmental value and the electricity supply destination, thereby installing solar power equipment. Increase the flexibility of location selection in terms of location and where to use environmental value.
Image of virtual PPA scheme
(source: RENOVA)
Based on the contract, Daiichi Solar Power Generation Limited Liability Company will develop new small-scale distributed solar power plants throughout the country. The new power plants will mainly be low-voltage commercial solar power with a grid output of 10 kW to less than 50 kW, and may include some high-voltage projects. It will also consider obtaining Feed-in-Premium (FIP) certification for some power plants. Operation will begin in stages from 2023.
The maximum solar panel output is about 115 MW, the grid output is about 60 MW, and annual power generation is expected to be about 100 GWh, with an annual CO2 reduction effect of 44,000 tons. This is equivalent to 6% of Murata Manufacturing's domestic power consumption (results for FY2021). The non-FIT non-fossil certificate derived from the power plant will be sold to Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and the generated power will be sold to the wholesale power exchange through an aggregator.
Since establishing the Green Transformation (GX) Headquarters in April 2022, RENOVA has been working on renewable energy power generation projects that do not use FIT such as corporate PPAs and FIPs. Signed off-site PPAs with two companies. This will be the company's first virtual PPA scheme, which separates electricity and environmental value after establishing a new solar power plant and sells the environmental value directly to companies.
In December 2020, the Murata Manufacturing Group joined the international initiative "RE100" aiming for 100% renewable energy for the electricity used in business activities. Management targets related to social value include a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by FY2024 compared to FY2019 and a 46% reduction by FY2030. %, and 100% by FY2050.
The company has installed large-scale self-consumption solar panels on the roofs and parking lots of its factories, and has contracted with Chugoku Electric Power to procure solar power through off-site PPAs. Regarding the virtual PPA, we are already collaborating with Mitsubishi Corporation to procure environmental value from 70MW of new solar power.
