Developers of Japan are forced to buy golf courses for SES projects

In Japan, developers are running out of land suitable for large solar projects. For these purposes, they are forced to buy golf courses, reports Bloomberg.

Golf courses, the number of which increased in Japan during the boom years of the 1980s, remained among the last available sites. The popularity of the game has declined in recent decades, especially in rural areas with a shrinking population, and clubs are losing out due to the maintenance of large plots.

Such sites are considered promising for the placement of solar power plants (SES) due to the open space, good lighting and access to the power grid. They already have about 9% of the capacity of Japanese industrial solar power plants. According to experts, the use of all land technically suitable for the use of solar energy and wind could increase the annual volume of generation in the country by 14 times. Projects with a total capacity of at least 1 GW are under development or construction. Last year, Kamisato Kensetsu Ltd., a major construction company, bought a 27-hole field. She intends to close the golf club and begin construction in 2030.

Japan has been betting on solar power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster shut down 54 nuclear reactors that used to generate about a third of the country's electricity. The government introduced generous subsidies that guaranteed the purchase of renewable energy at a price favorable to developers. After the boom, which peaked in 2015, the industry’s growth rate slowed and benefits were cut. Now, the slowdown poses a challenge for the government, which plans to provide up to 29% of electricity with solar panels by 2040, almost three times the current figure.

Beyond cutting subsidies, large solar projects are facing growing opposition from a public concerned about deforestation, landslides and landscape changes. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is also actively opposed to such environmental management, according to Bloomberg.

Ernest Philippowski