BRUC, a Spain-based independent power producer, is selling its Japanese portfolio of small utility scale solar farms, sources said.

OPTrust- and Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS)-backed BRUC hired Lazard some time ago to sell the approximately 70-100 MW portfolio of operating and development projects, the sources added.

It includes numerous small, grid-connected solar plants across several prefectures, including Gifu, Toyama, Saitama and Ibaraki.

It is unclear what the portfolio is worth, but operating solar plants can command valuations of USD 2-3m per megawatt-hour. This is higher than in many other countries due to historically generous feed-in-tariffs of between 15 and 20 years and Japanese investors with very low cost of capital.

However, the central government is ending subsidies for new ground-mounted commercial solar developments from next year.

Backed by Macquarie Capital at the time, Japan was the first country where BRUC invested, acquiring a 37 MW operating portfolio and a 100 MW pipeline of assets in 2016 from German developer IBC Solar.

Canada’s OPTrust invested in BRUC in 2017 followed by UK pension fund USS in 2021.

BRUC’s Japanese portfolio is now dwarfed by its Spanish solar, wind and battery platform, which comprises 9.1GW of projects in operation, construction and development.

BRUC did not respond to a request for comment. OPTrust, UCC and Lazard declined to comment.