Tohoku Shinkansen Line to Use Large Solar Power Plants Purchased Through Off-Site PPAs
2025/04/28 11:30
Business Plan
(Source: Joint Announcement from JR East, Tohoku Electric Power, Mitsubishi HC Capital Energy, and Kubota Honten)
The project will provide about 9% of the electricity needed to operate the line between Koriyama Station and Shin-Aomori Station.
(Source: photoAC)
On April 23, East Japan Railway Company (JR East) signed an off-site PPA (power purchase agreement) provided by Tohoku Electric Power, Mitsubishi HC Capital Energy (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), and Kubota Honten (Sendai City). It is expected that this power source will be gradually introduced as part of the power supply for the Tohoku Shinkansen Line from May.
Under this PPA, electricity from a 36 MW large-scale solar power plant (large-scale solar power plant) operated by Miyatoko Mega Solar Power Generation, wholly owned by Mitsubishi HC Capital Energy, and a 1.6 MW large-scale solar power plant operated by Kubota Honten will be supplied as operating electricity for the Tohoku Shinkansen Line between Koriyama Station and Shin-Aomori Station. Tohoku Electric Power will be responsible for adjusting supply and demand and providing electricity.
The annual power supply is expected to reach about 47 million kWh, equivalent to the average electricity consumption of about 15,100 households. This is equivalent to about 9% of the electricity required to operate the Tohoku Shinkansen Line between Koriyama Station and Shin-Aomori Station, and about 4% of the total electricity required to operate all Shinkansen lines in the JR East area. The effect of this implementation will be to reduce CO2 emissions by about 19,100 tons per year.
This is the third off-site PPA initiative between JR East and Tohoku Electric Power, and the total output of renewable energy power plants will be 59.8 MW, including one wind power plant and three solar power plants. JR East has established a long-term environmental goal called the "Zero Carbon Challenge 2050", with the aim of achieving almost zero CO2 emissions across the entire group by fiscal 2050.
