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    Flash drive maker Kioxia going Solar at two Japanese facilities

    Feb. 2, 2023
    According to the company, the new solar power systems, installed on rooftops of the flash memory fabrication facilities, will have a total generating capacity of 7.5 MW
    Artist rendering Fab 2 project courtesy Kioxia
    Kioxia Artists Impression Of Fab2 Kitakami Plant 2204 63dbf66eb9823

    Kioxia Group, a developer of flash memory and solid state drives, is installing large-scale solar power systems at its Kitakami and Yokkaichi plants in Japan to increase the usage of on-site renewable energy.

    According to the company, the new solar power systems, installed on rooftops of the flash memory fabrication facilities, will have a total generating capacity of 7.5 MW. The Kioxia announcement does not mention the contractor on the solar installments.

    The systems are expected to generate 7,600 MWh of electricity annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 3,200 tons per year.

    The solar power generation system at Kitakami plant (Fab1) started operating in January 2023, while the system at Yokkaichi plant (Fab6) is set to be operational in June 2023. The systems will be maintained and operated under a power purchase agreement model.

    Construction on a Kitakami Fab2 (rendering above) began a year ago. The site utilizes AI-based manufacturing processes and is being completed this year.

    Kioxia aims to source 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources, including solar power, by 2040. The company is a spinoff of Toshiba Corp.

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.