One of the largest solar power plants in the country has been built in Okayama Prefecture in a project joined by a unit of General Electric Co., with a ceremony held Friday to mark its completion.
The facility, made up of about 900,000 solar panels installed on roughly 260 hectares of land formerly used as a salt farm in the city of Setouchi, has an output capacity of 230,000 kilowatts and sells electricity to Chugoku Electric Power Co.
The plant began a test run in February and went into commercial operation in October ahead of schedule. It generates power equivalent to that consumed by about 80,000 households.
With an investment of around ¥110 billion ($970 million), the construction began in 2014. It is operated by Setouchi Future Creations LLC, which was founded by companies including GE Energy Financial Services and Toyo Engineering Corp.