Chopro Co., Ltd. and Solar Frontier announced today the completion of "SOL de Hirado Shimonakano", a utility-scale solar power plant in Hirado city, Nagasaki, Japan. Chopro will be the operator of the plant, which was built using solar modules provided by Solar Frontier. The completion ceremony held at the new plant today was attended by Hirado City Mayor Naruhiko Kuroda, Chopro President Kenji Araki, and Solar Frontier Executive Officer and Head of Domestic Agent Business Sales Organization Yukihiro Oyama. The "SOL de Hirado Shimonakano" solar power plant will begin selling electric power to Kyushu Electric in December and is the first megawatt-scale solar power plant to start selling power in Nagasaki Prefecture.
Construction started in July this year and 7,380 CIS thin-film solar modules from Solar Frontier were installed at a section of an industrial park (approximately 13,000 square meters) owned by the city of Hirado. With a maximum output of 1 megawatt, the power plant is expected to have an annual power generation output of approximately 1,000 megawatt-hours, enough electricity to power 250 homes.
"SOL de Hirado Shimonakano" is the first solar project for Chopro, a distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). In addition to supplying the solar panels for the "SOL de Hirado Shimonakano" project Solar Frontier also provided wide-ranging support from site selection, design and construction to operation and maintenance. Chopro and Solar Frontier intend to continue contributing to efforts to achieve local production of energy consumed locally and to supply clean, safe energy through the use of renewable energy sources.