First Overseas Solar Project
The Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) announced on June 15 that it initiated the initial energization and trial run of its solar power plant located in Chitose, Japan, which constitutes its first overseas project for solar power generation. The power plant has 28 MW solar power generation facilities combined with an energy storage system (ESS) with a capacity of 13.7 MWh.
The KEPCO began the installation of the ESS and 123,480 photovoltaic modules near the New Chitose Airport in April last year and the construction covering a land area of 1,089,000 square meters was recently completed. The systems are connected to Hokkaido Electric Power’s substation in Hinode and the commercial operation of the systems is planned to be initiated on July 5 after the 20-day trial run.
The project costs 113 billion won in total and the KEPCO has a share of 80% in it. Earlier, the KEPCO signed the agreement for the project with Energy Product, a Japanese alternative energy developer, in 2015 and conducted feasibility studies, financing negotiations and so on for a year before the beginning of the construction works in April 2016.
The final completion of the power plant is scheduled to be announced after an approval is obtained from the Japanese government within three months from the initiation of the trial run. “We are slated to run the power plant for 25 years and are expected to sell electric power worth a total of 317.4 billion won to Hokkaido Electric Power during the period,” the KEPCO explained.