Bank Jepang Ini Akan Use Panel Surya Di Padang Rumput Sering Untuk Pangkas Emisi

Solar farm illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Giangimore)

JAKARTA - The banking giants in Japan are taking advantage of what may be the country's first solar panel farm located in the grass for renewable energy, in order to power the buildings that house the bank's branches.

As part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, MUFG Bank has signed contracts with Osaka Gas Co. and Machiokhi Energy Co. for the bank to receive electricity generated from an 89-hectare seaweed in the coastal town of Shiranuka in Hokkaido.

The livestock is expected to generate around 19 gigawatt hours per year, enough to power around 4,000 Japanese households per year.

Machiokhi Energy, a local power plant company headquartered in Hyogo Prefecture, said the "solar grazing" arrangement offers common benefits to sheep and solar panels, according to Kyodo News Aug. 11.

The sheep is likely to reduce operating costs by eating weeds, which could hamper solar panel efficiency. Meanwhile, the auspices under solar panels allow them to avoid sunlight and play more, the company said.

Under a tripartite agreement dated July 26, Osaka Gas will purchase all the supplies it produces and distribute them to MUFG Bank for 20 years as electricity with a "non-fosil certificate" confirming that the supply comes from renewable sources.

After supply begins in July 2026, MUFG Bank will use it to power branches located on rental properties, to cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 20 percent. The company has shifted its own building energy supply to renewable sources.

Although initiatives to grow potato-like plants under solar panels have increased in recent years, Machiooshi Energy said a seaweed-based combination is likely to be Japan's first.

"There is a lot of land that is not used in Hokkaido, but it is easy to lose when reopening agriculture," said Shoji Numata, head of the company.

"By combining the livestock business with solar power plants, revenue can more than double," he added.