"DREAM Solar Higuchi Nagasaki," a mega- (large-scale) solar power plant with an output of about 15MW, is located in Togitsucho, Nishisonogi-gun, Nagasaki Prefecture (Fig. 1). Togitsucho is situated to the north of Nagasaki City's central area, facing Omura Bay.
The power plant was built on the former "Higuchi Togitsu Country Club" golf course. The location is about 19km from the Nagasaki Tarami Exit of the Nagasaki Expressway, about a 10-minute drive from Michinoo Station on the JR Nagasaki Main Line. The former golf course was built leveraging the mountain slopes. Despite the short total length of 6,005 yards, it was a mountain course with a relatively wide range of heights.
The power producer is Daiwa Lease Co Ltd (Osaka City) of the Daiwa House Industry Group. The Daiwa House Group has been engaged in everything from development to operation of the power plant while Daiwa House Industry Co Ltd provided engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and Daiwa Lifenext Co Ltd (Minato-ku, Tokyo), a building and condominium management group company, is responsible for its operation and maintenance (O&M).
The golf course commenced business in 1983 and terminated business in June 2014. The Daiwa House Group rented the site from Mitsudomoe Co Ltd (Nagasaki City), which had owned and run the golf course, and built the mega-solar power plant there. It started construction in August 2014 and power sales Nov 2, 2015. All generated power is sold to Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc.