J-POWER USA Starts Development to Convert Retired Coal Facility into New Solar and Storage Facilities

CHICAGO, April 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- J-POWER USA Development Co., Ltd. ("J-POWER USA") and funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, LLC ("Fortress") have agreed to jointly pursue development of Birchwood Solar, a 50 MWac solar plant and Birchwood Storage, a 190 MWac, energy storage facility.  These projects would convert Birchwood Power, a coal plant which has been in operation since November, 1996 into facilities that will generate and store clean renewable energy.

Birchwood is J-POWER USA's 3^rd solar project in development and part of our new initiative to add renewable generation to our existing portfolio.  By re-purposing a coal-fired power plant as carbon free solar and energy storage facilities, we will continue to deliver reliable electricity generation to the marketplace.  This project benefits from existing transmission infrastructure, which will be used for the new solar and storage generation.  This will also enable us to continue our long-term partnership with the local community. With the decommissioning of Birchwood Power, J-POWER USA's only coal-fired plant, our portfolio will consist exclusively of clean, efficient and reliable natural gas and renewable energy.

J-POWER USA and its affiliate companies now have interests in operating, construction and development power generating facilities, totaling approximately 7,000 MW.  "This is an exciting opportunity to take a former coal plant site and transform it into an emission free, clean energy facility," stated Mark Condon, President and CEO of J-POWER USA. "This project is part of J-POWER USA's plan to increase our renewable portfolio and continue our efforts to build a cleaner sustainable energy future," Condon continued.

About Fortress Investment Group, LLC
Fortress Investment Group LLC is a leading, highly diversified global investment manager. Founded in 1998, Fortress manages $49.9 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2020, on behalf of approximately 1,800 institutional clients and private investors worldwide across a range of credit and real estate, private equity and permanent capital investment strategies.

About J-POWER USA Development Co., Ltd
J-POWER USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of J-POWER North America Holdings Co., Ltd. which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. ("J-POWER") with headquarters located in Tokyo, Japan. J-POWER USA, headquartered in the greater Chicago area, has a long-term strategy to acquire, develop, finance and operate power generation facilities in North America through its team of power professionals with a proven track record of successfully developing and acquiring power projects in the IPP sector. 

J-POWER stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In the fiscal year ending March 2020, J-POWER had revenues of US$8.4 billion and assets of approximately US$26.0 billion. With approximately 25,000 megawatts of net ownership, J-POWER is one of the world's largest independent generators of electricity, owning 98 power plants in Japan and 34 international IPP investments.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/j-power-usa-starts-development-to-convert-retired-coal-facility-into-new-solar-and-storage-facilities-301261161.html

SOURCE J-POWER USA Development Co., Ltd.