Largest Japanese portfolios of operational assets already at size of European PV portfolios
Strictly looking at currently operational plants that have a common owner, the largest portfolios are owned by SB Energy (321 MW), followed at a distance by Marubeni Corp. (170 MW), Mitsui Co. (158 MW)and Mitsubishi Corp. (152 MW). Although the early stage of the market, these portfolios are already close to portfolio sizes of several investors in Europe.
Interestingly, the average plant sizes of SB Energy, Marubeni Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. are between 20 and 18MW, while the average plant size of Mitsui Co. is ‘just’ 7,5 MW.
Top 10 Solar PV Portfolios (operating)
| # | Name | Size (MWp) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SB Energy | 321.4 |
| 2 | Marubeni Corporation | 169.1 |
| 3 | Mitsui & Co. | 157.3 |
| 4 | Mitsubishi Corporation | 151.9 |
| 5 | C-TECH CORPORATION | 147 |
| 6 | Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company Limited | 137.7 |
| 7 | NTT FACILITIES, INC. | 119.7 |
| 8 | West Holdings Corporation | 116.2 |
| 9 | Kyocera Corporation | 100.6 |
| 10 | Fuyo General Lease Co.,Ltd. | 87.8 |
Top 10 Solar PV Portfolios (including pipeline)
| # | Name | Size (MWp) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Photovolt Development Partners GmbH | 813 |
| 2 | SB Energy | 475.8 |
| 3 | Orix Corporation | 452.1 |
| 4 | Mitsui & Co. | 362.3 |
| 5 | Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation | 236.5 |
| 6 | Kuni Umi Asset Management Co.Ltd, | 231.44 |
| 7 | Pacifico Energy | 220.2 |
| 8 | Kobebussan Co.,Ltd. | 208.5 |
| 9 | Marubeni Corporation | 198.9 |
| 10 | C-TECH CORPORATION | 159.9 |
Future portfolios demonstrate strong growth intensions of marker players
Many PV companies have disclosed (part) of their projects that are approved and in several stages of realization. Although it is subject to what will happen in the market, by accumulating these numbers it is possible to ‘predict’ the size and mix of future major portfolios.
The largest future portfolio (an impressive 813 MW) is ‘claimed’ by Photovolt Development Partners GmbH. This company and Pacifico Energy are among the strongest risers in the overview, as they plan to grow from no operating assets a the time of writing this article to respectively 813 and 220 MW. SB Energy remains in the top-3, with over 475 MW and Orix’s plans so far represent a portfolio of 452 MW. Other portfolios that remain in the top 10 in the future are Mitsui Co., C-Tech and Marubeni Corp.
Number of plants in portfolios and average plant sizes
A detailed look at the capacity in MW of the portfolios, combined with the total number of plants, gives a good impression of how distributed the portfolios are. At the moment, the smallest average plant size is represented by the West Holdings portfolio, where the plants have an average capacity of 0.89 MW each. Also Orix, Kobebussan Co., Ltd and Chopro Co., Ltd own plants of which the average size is close to 1 MW.
SB Energy, Kyocera Corporation and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company Limited currently represent the largest average plant sizes (over 20 MW on average).
If we take the future plans and plants into consideration, the top 3 based on number of plants in the portfolio is still composed of the same companies: Orix (214 plants), West Holdings (131 plants) and NTT Facilities (55 plants). Orix’s average plant size will have gone up to 2.11 MW, which makes clear the company is planning to include some larger plants in its future portfolio. West Holdings will still represent the smallest average plant size, followed by Chopro Co., Ltd, Sky Solar and Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd.
Number of plants in portfolio (operating)
| # | Name | Number | Size (MWp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Holdings Corporation | 131 | 0.89 |
| 2 | Orix Corporation | 68 | 1.1 |
| 3 | NTT FACILITIES, INC. | 52 | 2.3 |
| 4 | Sky Solar Japan | 34 | 3.52 |
| 5 | DAIWA HOUSE INDUSTRY CO., LTD. | 32 | 1.82 |
| 6 | OBAYASHI CORPORATION | 29 | 2.45 |
| 7 | JAPAN ASIA GROUP LIMITED | 24 | 2.15 |
| 8 | Shibaura Group Holdings Co., Ltd. | 24 | 2.63 |
| 9 | Mitsui & Co. | 21 | 7.49 |
| 10 | Sharp Corporation | 18 | 3.82 |
Number of plants in portfolio (incl. pipeline)
| # | Name | Number | Size (MWp) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orix Corporation | 214 | 2.11 |
| 2 | West Holdings Corporation | 131 | 0.89 |
| 3 | NTT FACILITIES, INC. | 55 | 2.52 |
| 4 | Mitsui & Co. | 34 | 10.66 |
| 5 | Sky Solar Japan | 34 | 1.51 |
| 6 | DAIWA HOUSE INDUSTRY CO., LTD. | 34 | 1.83 |
| 7 | OBAYASHI CORPORATION | 29 | 2.45 |
| 8 | Shibaura Group Holdings Co., Ltd. | 28 | 2.48 |
| 9 | Tokio Marine Asset Management Co., Ltd. | 27 | 3.49 |
| 10 | JAPAN ASIA GROUP LIMITED | 25 | 2.87 |
At Solarplaza we foresee an exciting time in Japan as it's arriving at a stage of growth and consolidation of solar PV portfolios. Driven by the electricity market reform and new opportunities for PPS businesses, there will be high activity in this field of the market as well. This will result not only in interesting new business opportunities for investors, but also for service providers of O&M, AM and monitoring solutions. All of these topics will be discussed at the conference Solar Asset Management Asia, which takes place on June 24-25 in Tokyo.
The data and numbers used in these overviews are based on public available data or limited to what companies are willing to share with us. One limitation is the fact that ownership percentages are not known for some portfolios, which might distort the real number of MWs invested in. If you have comments, suggestions or improvements, please feel free to contact us directly.
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