Mazda Adding Renewable Solar Power to Japanese Plants

Toyo Seat, Choshu Industry, The Chugoku Electric Power, and Mazda Motor Corporation have reached an offsite corporate power purchase agreement (PPA)*1 on solar power generation, a renewable source of energy, to support the transition towards a carbon neutral society. Under the PPA, Choshu Industry will serve as the electric power producer, with Choshu Industry and Mazda installing new solar power generation facilities on unused land in the Chugoku Region, using those facilities to generate electricity, which will then be sold to Chugoku Electric Power. Chugoku Electric Power will then supply this electricity to Toyo Seat and Mazda as a source of renewable energy.*2

“Mazda began using renewable energy on site in July 2021 with the installation of solar panels on the roof of our plant. To become carbon neutral throughout our supply chain by 2050 and at out plants throughout the world by 2035, it is essential for us to work together with various stakeholders to promote the wider adoption of offsite corporate PPA, and we believe that this project will serve as a valuable first step towards the wider use of renewable energy sources within the Chugoku Region,” said Hironaka Taketo, Executive Officer, in charge of Production Engineering, Business Logistics, Carbon Neutrality and Cost Innovation, Mazda Motor Corporation.

This agreement is the Chugoku Region’s first offsite corporate PPA involving more than one electric power consumer. From April this year, under the PPA, Chugoku Electric Power will commence, in stages, the supply of approximately 4,900 kW in renewable energy generated by solar panels to plants and other places of business belonging to Toyo Seat and Mazda. These arrangements are expected to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 2,610 tons.

*1. An Offsite Corporate PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) is a long-term contract for the purchase of electric power under which a company producing electric power through solar power generation facilities agrees to provide power generated using those facilities to a designated user or users based in a location separate from the solar power generation facilities, supplying that power to them via an electric power transmission network operated by an electric power retailer.

*2. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (MITI) provides subsidies to cover a portion of the expense of installing solar power generation facilities in cases where consumers of electric power coordinated with an electric power producer to establish such facilities. “These subsidies are intended to promote such collaborations and encourage wider adoption of independent initiatives to establish renewable energy sources, contributing to a reliable, long-term, supply-demand balance in energy use during the period up until 2030, thereby supporting the achievement of ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”

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