Downing and Tokyo Century Corporation have agreed a £300m-plus investment programme to acquire and construct a portfolio of around 500MW of utility scale, ground-mounted solar projects in the UK.

The programme will be delivered through a joint venture focused on ready-to-build projects that already have CfD arrangements in place. The partners said the portfolio will be sourced from Downing’s development pipeline as well as third-party developers, with target grid connection dates in 2027 and 2028.

The announcement comes hot on the heels of

Downing’s recent acquisition of two consented solar farms from BOOM Power

, which added a combined 72.1MW of consented solar capacity to the company’s overall portfolio. Now, it’s preparing to invest even more as it teams up with Japanese-based Tokyo Century.

Sir Chris Bryant, the UK Minister for Trade, framed the deal as an example of international investment supporting the UK’s clean energy ambitions.

He commented.” It’s fantastic to see UK-Japan collaboration in action with Japanese firm Tokyo Century and UK-based Downing coming together to invest in the UK’s clean energy sector.

“Our clean energy industry is a key part of the modern Industrial Strategy, and this significant investment demonstrates that together we can drive economic growth and support industries of the future.”

Tokyo Century said the UK programme forms part of its broader renewables investment activity, with a particular focus on moving into construction-led strategies.

Toshihiro Nakanishi, General Manager at Tokyo Century commented, “We are very pleased to continue our global renewable energy investment programme and were impressed with Downing’s capabilities and the UK market opportunity. We look forward to pursuing our first construction led strategy and think that this opportunity is a compelling one.”

Downing, which will source projects from its pipeline and the wider market, said the partnership is intended to bring forward new capacity while supporting wider economic benefits.

Tom Williams, Head of Energy & Infrastructure, at Downing, concluded, “Tokyo Century is an enormously experienced investor and their commitment is a strong endorsement of both our capabilities and the strength of the UK renewables market. By combining our in-house expertise across development, construction and asset management, we are confident this partnership will deliver meaningful capacity, create long-term local employment and benefits and support the UK’s transition to a resilient, low-carbon energy system.”