Japan Megabank To Use Solar Panels On Sheep Farm To Cut Emissions

A Japanese megabank is tapping into what may be the country's first solar panel farm located in a sheep pasture for renewable energy to power buildings housing the bank's domestic branches, Kyodo News reported.

MUFG Bank has signed a contract with Osaka Gas Co. and Machiokoshi Energy Co. for the bank to receive electricity generated from an 89-hectare pasture in the coastal town of Shiranuka in Hokkaido. I Photo: Kyodo

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

The farm is expected to produce about 19 gigawatt-hours annually, enough to power about 4,000 Japanese households a year, Mainichi Japan also reported.

Machiokoshi Energy, a local power generation business based in Hyogo Prefecture, says the "solar grazing" setup offers mutual benefits to both sheep and the solar panels.

The sheep help reduce maintenance costs by eating weeds, which can hamper solar panel efficiency, while the shade under the solar panels provides the sheep with a place to escape the sun and graze more, the company said.

Under a tripartite deal dated July 26, Osaka Gas will buy the entire generated supply and distribute it to MUFG Bank for 20 years as electricity with a "nonfossil certificate" confirming it is from a renewable source.