The Tokyo-based forest manager and lumber producer plans to put around 20 billion yen ($181 million) -- more than 10% of planned investment -- into growing renewables operations in that time.
It will buy a nearly 10% stake in Renova, a Japanese environmental technology startup with a track record in biomass and solar power plant development, for 1 billion yen when new shares are issued Monday. Sumitomo Forestry plans to collaborate with Renova on wind and geothermal power operations, fields both are taking steps to break into.
Over the next three years, Sumitomo Forestry aims to bring a geothermal plant into commercial operation. Sites under consideration for these facilities include portions of the roughly 46,000 hectares of forestland the company owns across Japan.
The geothermal plant is seen with a capacity of around 2 MW and a cost of several billion yen. Power will be sold under Japan's feed-in tariff system, wherein utilities buy electricity produced by alternative means at government-mandated prices.
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