<p>Japanese home renovator West Holdings plans build up to 10 floating solar installations in the country with a combined capacity of as much as 20 MW, business daily Nikkei reported.<br /><br />The company intends to install the first two floating solar facilities at a nature reserve in Saitama and a swamp in Osaka, both in central Japan, with a view to bringing them online in 2013 with a generating capacity of 1 MW and 2 MW, respectively.<br /><br />West Holdings is currently looking for space to install large solar plants on water, a model that offers abundant exposure to the sun's rays and a stable surface, the daily said.</p>.<p>The company will import the needed technology from South Korea's LS Industrial Systems and ensure that the cables, gaskets and other panel parts are water-resistant, Nikkei reported.<br /><br />Japan is developing a new energy plan in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, which followed a devastating March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.<br /><br />The nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986, caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, while some 52,000 people remain displaced from the worst-hit towns.<br /><br />Japan, which prior to the disaster depended on nuclear power for nearly 30 percent of its electricity, is currently keeping 48 of its 50 reactors idle.<br /><br />Among the companies undertaking renewable energy projects in the wake of the accident is Spain's Gestamp Solar, which plans to invest more than 870 million euros ($1.1 billion) in solar energy plants and panels in Japan over the next three years.<br /><br />Several Japanese companies, including the local units of IBM and Goldman Sachs, are planning to build one of the country's largest solar energy plants - a nearly 250 MW facility in the southern city of Sotouchi - by 2016. </p>
<p>Japanese home renovator West Holdings plans build up to 10 floating solar installations in the country with a combined capacity of as much as 20 MW, business daily Nikkei reported.<br /><br />The company intends to install the first two floating solar facilities at a nature reserve in Saitama and a swamp in Osaka, both in central Japan, with a view to bringing them online in 2013 with a generating capacity of 1 MW and 2 MW, respectively.<br /><br />West Holdings is currently looking for space to install large solar plants on water, a model that offers abundant exposure to the sun's rays and a stable surface, the daily said.</p>.<p>The company will import the needed technology from South Korea's LS Industrial Systems and ensure that the cables, gaskets and other panel parts are water-resistant, Nikkei reported.<br /><br />Japan is developing a new energy plan in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, which followed a devastating March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.<br /><br />The nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986, caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, while some 52,000 people remain displaced from the worst-hit towns.<br /><br />Japan, which prior to the disaster depended on nuclear power for nearly 30 percent of its electricity, is currently keeping 48 of its 50 reactors idle.<br /><br />Among the companies undertaking renewable energy projects in the wake of the accident is Spain's Gestamp Solar, which plans to invest more than 870 million euros ($1.1 billion) in solar energy plants and panels in Japan over the next three years.<br /><br />Several Japanese companies, including the local units of IBM and Goldman Sachs, are planning to build one of the country's largest solar energy plants - a nearly 250 MW facility in the southern city of Sotouchi - by 2016. </p>