Kyocera (News - Alert) Corporation and six other companies have jointly established a new company that will be operating a 70 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in southern Japan. The utility-scale solar power plant will be the largest in Japan. In a recent announcement, Kyocera and others have completed the capital investment procedures for the establishment of the new company named as Kagoshima Mega Solar Power Corporation.

According to a press release, Kagoshima Mega Solar Power Corporation will develop and operate the previously announced 70MW solar power plant in Kagoshima City (Kagoshima Prefecture) on land owned by IHI Corporation. Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. will purchase the generated power under the guidelines of the new feed-in tariff (FIT) program which was implemented on July 1 in Japan. The total cost of the project is estimated at approximately 27 billion yen (approx. 345 million US dollars). All the seven investment companies (including Kyocera), and Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd. are formulating a financing plan for the project. Construction is scheduled to start in September of this year, with plans for completion by fall of 2013.

All the solar modules and part of the construction and maintenance system used in the solar power plant will be supplied by the Kyocera Group, who is also largest shareholder in the establishment of the new company.

In Japan, the expectations and interest in solar energy have peaked to a new level with the need to address power supply problems caused by the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Additionally, the start of a revamped FIT program stipulating that solar installations producing more than 10 kilowatts (kW) of solar energy to be subsidized with a feed-in tariff of 42 yen (approx. 53 cents) per kilowatt hour for a period of 20 years.

Through the start of this new solar power project Kyocera strives to proactively save the environment by promoting the use of renewable energy.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.