Shares in SoftBank rose after the conglomerate’s energy unit announced a partnership that will see the development and operation of two new large-scale solar projects in Japan. SB Energy has teamed up with the Japanese subsidiary of Chicago-based Invernergy for the joint development, financing, construction and operation of two solar projects located in the Nagano and Fukushima prefectures. Hiroaki Fujii, executive deputy president of SB Energy said he was pleased to be cooperating with “Invenergy Japan, a company making a lot of progress with its knowledge of the renewable energy business globally.” Jim Shield, chief commercial officer of Invenergy said the “deal marks our first major commercial transaction in Japan and we are pleased to be working with SB Energy”. Shares in SoftBank were up 0.6 per cent and had gained as much as 0.9 per cent. The benchmark Topix was flat. Local media in India also reported overnight that SoftBank was considering buying a 20 per cent stake in the One97, the owner of Indian mobile payments company Paytm, for between $1.4bn and $1.9bn. The Queens Solar Farm in Fukushima will have the capacity to generate 10.5 MW of solar power, while the Koumi Kogen Solar Farm in Nagano will generate 10.4 MW of solar power once it is fully operational, the two companies said.
The energy unit of Japanese telecoms company SB Energy , SoftBank , has partnered with the Japanese subsidiary of Chicago -based the Financial Times to develop and operate two solar projects in Nagano and Fukushima , reported Fukushima in SB Energy .