A major Japanese bank may be developing the country’s first solar power plant on a sheep pasture to generate renewable energy to power the buildings that house the bank’s domestic branches.
As part of its efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, MUFG Bank has signed a contract with Osaka Gas Co. and Machiokoshi Energy Co. that will allow the bank to purchase electricity from an 89-hectare pasture in the coastal town of Shiranuka in Hokkaido.
The farm is expected to produce about 19 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power about 4,000 Japanese households annually.
Photorealistic image of the planned solar panels and sheep pasture in Shiranuka, Hokkaido. (Image courtesy of Machiokoshi Energy Co.) (Kyodo)
Machiokoshi Energy, a local power generation company based in Hyogo Prefecture, says the “solar pasture” offers benefits to both the sheep and the solar panels.
The sheep can reduce operating costs by eating weeds that can reduce the efficiency of the solar panels. The shade under the solar panels also offers them protection from the sun and the opportunity to graze more, the company said.
Under a tripartite agreement on July 26, Osaka Gas will buy all the energy generated and distribute it to MUFG Bank for twenty years as electricity with a “non-fossil certificate” confirming that the electricity comes from a renewable source.
Once deliveries begin in July 2026, MUFG Bank will use it to power branches in rental properties, reducing its annual greenhouse gas emissions by around 20 percent. The company has already switched the energy supply of its own buildings to renewable sources.
While initiatives to grow crops such as potatoes under solar panels have increased in recent years, the combination on pastureland is likely a first in Japan, according to Machiokoshi Energy.
“There is a lot of unused land in Hokkaido, but it is easy to go into the red when reopening farms,” said Shoji Numata, the company’s head. “By combining the livestock business with solar power generation, it is possible to more than double income,” he added.
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