1st Offsite Solar PPA For Japan’s NTT DOCOMO

• NTT DOCOMO to procure solar power from an NTT AE solar power plant in Japan for its Okayama building housing network facilities for the former
• Project has come up in Tottori city and will exclusively supply power generated to NTT DOCOMO from April 2022
• NTT AE has also announced it will offer renewable energy supply options to the datacenter clients of NTT Communications to help them decarbonize their operations

NTT DOCOMO, the Japanese mobile operator, will have its Okayama building in Japan to be completely powered by solar power under a power purchase agreement (PPA) it signed with NTT Anode Energy Corporation (NTT AE) as the company's maiden offsite contract for renewable energy.

Both the companies are part of Japanese telecommunications group Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT).

The Okayama building houses network facilities of NTT DOCOMO and with the solar power plant exclusively supplying to the building, it will ensure stable, long-term access to power 'even if Japan's energy market ever becomes unstable'.

Renewable energy power generator and part of NTT Corporation, NTT AE has constructed the solar power plant, with unidentified capacity, in Tottori city of Tottori Prefecture on Honshu island. Once the PPA comes into effect in April 2022, clean solar power will be supplied to NTT DOCOMO through public power transmission and distribution network.

Under terms of the agreement, in case some contracted electricity cannot be fulfilled via the solar plant under the PPA, NTT AE said it will purchase non-fossil certificates for renewable energy to ensure that the percentage of power supplied to and used by the building will be raised to be classified as renewable to 100%.

The 100% renewable energy supply will enable Okayama building of NTT DOCOMO to reduce its GHG emissions by approximately 10,000 tons annually.

Both the companies plan to further collaborate to utilize NTT Group assets to further lower carbon emissions with the help of renewable energy.

Renewable energy supply to corporates

NTT AE that supplies renewable energy along with LNG natural gas as well as thermal power, also announced separately that along with another NTT Group company NTT Communications, all clients using the latter's datacenters will have an option to select renewable energy supply to meet their decarbonization targets beginning April 1, 2022. Renewable energy supply along with additionality of offsite PPAs It will enable the end users to comply with RE100 commitments.

"By utilizing renewable energy supplied by NTT AE, NTT Com's large-scale commercial data centers will be the first in Japan to provide clients who are using dedicated room or caged space with a renewable energy menu that allows them to select the category of power source consumed by their equipment," explained the 2 companies. "In addition, as an environmental value, information on individual power plants and the amount of used energy will be provided individually based on Non-fossil Certificates."

Renewable energy commitments by Japanese companies are considered significant by the government that offered up to $1 billion support for corporate renewable PPAs by the firms under RE100 commitment in its COVID-19 economic stimulus package in April 2020.