The Spanish company Gestamp Solar has planned to invest nearly 90 billion yen ($1.16 billion) in solar plants and panels in Japan. The investment comes over a period of the next three years. The company signed a deal with Kankyo Keiei Senryaku Soken to invest the amount to build and operate rooftop photovoltaic installations with a capacity of 30 MW.
Both companies hope to hit the target of 300 MW in generating capacity within three years. It will be building both rooftop and ground-mounted projects to achieve this target. Gestampo Solar CEO Jorge Barredo said that from the total capacity, 70% of it would be generated from (over the long-term) rooftop projects. Besides its deal with Kankyo Keiei Senryaku Soken, Gestampo Solar is in talks with other companies in Japan.
The first of the solar installations will be built by the end of this year and the first completed plant will be ready to run by March 2013. Supermarkets and other commercial outlets are being offered a chance to install solar panels on some 40 or 50 surfaces, though the company.
Gestamp Renewables is a unit of the parent company Gestamp Solar and it specializes in the development, construction, operation and maintenance of solar parks. They have the reputation of developing photovoltaic installations with more than 500 MW of generating capacity in 13 countries. This list includes the US, Chile, Peru and Spain.