NEWS

Japan's Green Investment Promotion Organization has released the final results of its latest auction for utility-scale solar energy projects.

The state-run agency said that 79 MW of PV projects were selected in the procurement exercise. It was Japan's 27th auction for utility-scale solar and was expected to assign 196MW of generating capacity.

The 11 selected projects range in size from 72 kW to 29.9 MW. 

The lowest bid was JPY 0.0/kWh and was submitted for one project with a capacity of 400 kW. This facility had likely secured a private power purchase agreement for the sale of electricity and participated in the auction to secure grid connection.

The highest bid of JPY 6.49 ($0.041)/kWh was submitted for two projects. The average final price came in at JPY 4.61/kWh, with the ceiling price being JPY 8.68/kWh.

In the 26th auction, the Green Investment Promotion Organization assigned 75.3 MW across 37 projects. The lowest bid was JPY 4.97/kWh and the highest JPY 8.75/kWh.

In the 25th auction, the Japanese authorities allocated 223.3 MW at an average price of JPY 6.58/kWh. In the 24th auction, the average final price came in at JPY 4.06/kWh and the allocated capacity was 79 MW. In both these procurement exercises, the lowest bid was also JPY 0.00/kWh.

In the previous ten rounds, held between March 2025 and March 2022, the lowest prices ranged between JPY 5.06/kWh and JPY 8.85/kWh.

In 2021, the Japanese government allocated 675 MW of PV capacity across three different auctions. In previous auctions, it allocated 942 MW.