Sharp and Shigemitsu Shoji to Participate in the First^*1 Large Scale Solar Power Plant Business in Mongolia

Rendering image

Sharp Corporation (Head office: Sakai City, Osaka, CEO: Kozo Takahashi) and Shigemitsu Shoji Co., Ltd.^*2 (Head office: Kanazawa City, Ishikawa, CEO: Gegentana), together with a local Mongolian partner^*3 will jointly participate in the first large scale solar power plant business in Mongolia. Today, we reached an agreement between all parties and completed the signing ceremony in Ulaanbaatar. Construction of the project will start later this month and the commercial operation date is scheduled on this December.

This project has been approved by the Financing Programme for JCM Model Projects^*4 under the Joint Crediting Mechanism operated by the Ministry of Environment of Japan.
By introducing Sharp's technology and experience in solar power generation, clean energy can be supplied and reduction of greenhouse gas emission can be contributed to Mongolia, where coal fire power plants are still heavily relied on as their main energy source.
In addition, the project will contribute to Japan's greenhouse gas emission reduction target through the Joint Crediting Mechanism. The installed capacity of PV modules for this solar power plant will be 10MW and the annual expected power generation is 14,182MWh/year, which is expected to contribute to the reduction of approximately 14,746tCO2/year of greenhouse gas emission.

Sharp will supply PV modules, mounting structures, and other balance of systems such as inverters together with system designing and engineering services for the project. With designs to bear the harsh climate conditions such as severe cold temperatures during the winter and snow, a long-term stable operation of the solar power plant will be secured. Shigemitsu Shoji Co., Ltd. will support the joint management and operation of the solar power plant for the next 25 years with the help of their expertise on solar power plant operation based on their experiences in Japan.

Sharp and Shigemitsu Shoji Co., Ltd. will continue to contribute to the expansion of renewable energy in the world.

• *1 As of 19th July 2016 (based on Sharp survey).
• *2 A trading company mainly handling textiles such as towels and building materials. Shigemitsu Shoji Co., Ltd.has newly entered the solar power plant business and is currently operating 8 plants amounting to 9.2MW in Japan.
• *3 Solar Power International LLC (Headquarters: Darkhan, Mongolia, CEO: Mandalbayar Baldan)
• *4 "Financing Programme for Joint Credit Mechanism (JCM) Model Projects", a governmental supporting scheme aiming to facilitate the diffusion of low carbon technologies and products from Japan to contribute to the sustainable development of developing countries. Under the condition of allocating at least 50% of the greenhouse gas emission reduction to the Japanese government as their achievements towards the target, the government will grant financial support up to 50% of the relevant low carbon technologies and products.
• *5 The term of the power purchase agreement signed between the national electric company.