Japan is mountainous and densely populated and has little land available for large solar farms. As a result, solar developers are building solar arrays on disused golf courses.
Japan’s economic boom in the 1980s lead to the construction of thousands of new golf courses. Golf became a massive status symbol and a core part of business culture. Golf courses were once the symbol of Japan’s economic ascendance. But when Japan’s financial bubble burst at the end of the decade, golf participation rates dropped by 40%. Many courses closed down or went bankrupt.
A recent analysis by Bloomberg found that 9% of Japan’s utility-scale solar capacity is installed on former golf courses. After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, public outcry led Japan to close down dozens of nuclear reactors. These power plants once supplied a third of Japan’s electricity. As a result, the government began offering solar developers generous incentives, leading to lots of new large installations.
Some of the projects were built on abandoned farms, including those in Fukushima that were made unusable because of radioactive contamination. Other large solar farms are located in the foothills outside of Japanese cities, but many of those projects displaced forests, fueling public backlash.
Japan’s closed golf courses are a good option. Apart from not garnering public opposition, the golf course sites are on land that is generally cheap and flat and the sites are already connected to the power grid. Going forward, at least 10% of forthcoming utility-scale solar projects are on golf courses.
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References:
Short on Land, Japan Is Building Solar Farms on Old Golf Courses
