LG CNS completes solar power plant in Japan
Seen is a solar power plant in Mine, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. / Courtesy of LG CNS
By Baek Byung-yeul
LG CNS, a system integration affiliate of LG Group, has completed construction of a 56-megawatt (MW) solar power generation plant in the Mine region of Yamaguchi Prefecture, the firm said Thursday.
LG CNS won the contract from global solar energy company Canadian Solar to construct the Shin Mine plant in 2016.
With the business scale of 160 billion won ($149 million), LG CNS said it took 19 months to complete the construction. Using a former 27-hole golf course, the firm completed construction of the power plant covering around 1.42 square kilometers.
The LG affiliate said the plant can produce 62 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity per year, enough to power about 10,000 homes in Mine for two years.
In terms of power production, the Shin Mine project is the eighth-largest solar power plant of the approximately 7,000 solar plants in Japan, which has the third-largest solar plant market in the world, following China and the United States.
LG CNS has been expanding its solar power plant business in Japan. The Shin Mine project is LG CNS's fourth solar power plant project following the construction of Shimane (10 MW), Tojo (33 MW) and Shirakawa (31 MW).
Also, LG CNS is looking to diversify its energy business beyond solar power plants on land to floating solar power plants, wind farms and energy storage systems (ESS), and it plans to continue expanding its overseas business into other countries in the wake of advancing into the North American market.
LG CNS also has been expanding its energy business portfolio. The firm has been operating floating solar power plants since 2015 in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province. As the water around the power plants cools the solar panels, the floating power plants gain up to 15 percent higher output than equivalent power plants produce on land.
Taking the Shin Mine project as a stepping stone, LG CNS Vice President Ha Tae-seok said the firm will expand its renewable energy business in Japan.