Power supply began with floating solar panels installed on public facilities.

Shimizu Corporation has recently launched a floating solar power generation project using rainwater retention ponds in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, as part of its renewable energy power generation business. This project was selected as part of a public offering by the Yokohama Municipal Government, which aims to expand the use of renewable energy and promote local production for local consumption. A floating solar panel system with a total area of ​​1,197 square meters was installed at the Shonan Katsuradai Second Rainwater Retention Pond (Ehime-ku, Yokohama), which is expected to provide an annual output of 134,000 kWh to Minato Mirai 21 District. Retail power supply to end users is provided by Smart Eco Energy Co., Ltd. taken over. a wholly owned subsidiary, with a project duration of 20 years.

As efforts to adopt renewable energy accelerate toward achieving a decarbonized society, securing suitable land for solar power generation in Japan is becoming increasingly difficult, prompting research into the use of rainwater retention ponds as new solar panel installation sites. By effectively using municipal balancing basins as privately operated solar power plants, local governments can accelerate the decarbonization of electricity consumption while benefiting from lower maintenance costs for public assets. As part of this initiative, our company has received permission from the Yokohama City Government to occupy the proposed compensation basin and will carry out an external PPA project to contribute to the community by providing emergency power sources during disasters.

The floating solar panels used in this project are mounted on floating floating frames. To prevent horizontal movement of the panels when the water level in the compensation pond fluctuates, the floating frames are attached to the pond bottom with wires. This project represents one of the few domestic examples of floating solar power generation using public assets, with the unique feature of selecting a balancing basin that remains dry under normal conditions. Compared to ponds that continuously store water, this structure improves the construction efficiency of power generation systems and reduces installation costs by approximately 5%.

As part of its carbon neutral initiatives outlined in the group's environmental vision “SHIMZ Beyond Zero 2050”, our company is actively committed to the production of renewable energy. As of October 2025, we have 44 power plants with a total generation capacity of 100.8 MW. In the future, we will continue to explore ways to improve the power generation capacity of floating solar systems, thereby contributing to decarbonization and the realization of a sustainable society.