Enfinity Global has secured $195 million of long-term debt for a single 70 MW solar plant in northern Japan. The plant had started operating the month before. Measured per megawatt, it is the largest Japanese solar loan Enerdatics records since 2023, and it is more than four times what Enfinity borrowed per megawatt on its own larger Japanese portfolio three months later.
Key takeaways
- Enfinity Global secured $195 million of long-term financing, announced on 26 April 2024, for the 70 MW Aomori solar power plant in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
- Nomura Securities International acted as initial lead arranger and sole book-runner on the Aomori solar financing, with Aozora Bank as lead arranger and agent.
- Construction of the Aomori solar plant started in September 2022 and operations began in March 2024; the plant is expected to produce more than 75 GWh a year, enough for 15,600 households.
- The Aomori loan equals about $2.79 million per MW, the highest per-MW figure among the five Japanese solar debt financings Enerdatics records from 2023 to mid-2025.
- In July 2024 Enfinity Global secured $164 million for a 250 MW Japanese solar portfolio, about $0.66 million per MW.
Why finance a solar plant after it is built?
Because an operating plant is a cheaper thing to lend against than a construction site. Once a solar farm is running, a lender can see its output rather than model it. The main risks of building, such as delays, cost overruns and grid connection, have already been passed.
The timing of the Enfinity Global loan fits that logic. Leap records construction starting in September 2022, operations beginning in March 2024 and the financing announced on 26 April 2024. The record describes it as long-term financing for an operational plant.
Leap does not say how construction itself was paid for, or whether this loan repaid an earlier facility. What it does show is that the lenders were taking on a running asset with an expected output of more than 75 GWh a year, not a project still exposed to building risk.
What does the arranger lineup say about the loan?
It points to a deal structured for distribution. A book-runner manages the process of placing a financing with investors, and a sole book-runner runs it alone. That role went to Nomura Securities International, which also acted as initial lead arranger.
Aozora Bank took the lead arranger and agent role. An agent administers a loan once it is in place: collecting payments, passing them to lenders and handling waivers. The split puts one firm in charge of placing the debt and another in charge of running it.
Leap does not say how much of the $195 million each party holds, or whether the debt was spread among other investors. The roles themselves are the clue that it may have been.
Why does Aomori borrow so much more per MW than Enfinity's portfolio?
Because the two loans are measured against very different things. The Aomori figure is $195 million against 70 MW. The July 2024 portfolio loan is $164 million against 250 MW, which works out at about $0.66 million per MW.
The output numbers sharpen the gap. Aomori is expected to produce more than 75 GWh a year, or roughly 1,070 MWh per MW. The portfolio, seven operating plants plus one under construction, is expected to produce more than 300 GWh a year, about 1,200 MWh per MW. On those figures Aomori carries about $2,600 of debt for each MWh of annual output. The portfolio carries about $550.
The portfolio has a history that may explain part of the difference. Enfinity acquired it in February 2022 at an enterprise value of $1 billion, and the $164 million is recorded as funding for its expansion. That makes it a slice of a wider capital structure rather than the whole debt load. Aomori's $195 million, by contrast, is the financing for the plant itself.
Enerdatics' data shows six Japanese solar financings from the start of 2023 to mid-2025, five of them debt. Per megawatt, the debt deals run from $0.66 million for Enfinity's portfolio to $2.79 million for Aomori. In between sit Aquila Capital's $21.42 million for a 7.9 MW project at $2.71 million per MW, Vena Energy's $121.17 million for the 53 MW Kasama project at $2.29 million, and Sonnedix's $34.26 million refinancing of 18 MW at $1.90 million. The sixth record is PAG's $550 million fund raise, which is equity.
What does the deal signal for Japanese solar finance?
It signals that the deal flow is thin and the pricing spread is wide. Five debt deals in two and a half years is a small sample, and the per-megawatt figures cover a range of more than four times. That spread reflects what each loan is for as much as what each plant is worth.
It also shows how much of that thin flow comes from one sponsor. Between April and July 2024 Enfinity raised $359 million of Japanese solar debt across its two deals. The other three debt financings in the set total about $176.9 million combined. The two Enfinity loans also describe very different assets on the same measure: Aomori is expected to power 15,600 households from 70 MW, while the 250 MW portfolio is expected to power 60,000 homes.
Single-asset loans sit at the top of the range. Aomori, Aquila's 7.9 MW project and Vena's Kasama plant all carry more than $2.2 million per MW. The two portfolio or refinancing deals sit lower. For a reader trying to benchmark a Japanese solar loan, the first question is therefore whether it funds one plant or a slice of many.
The Aomori loan also leaves a question for the next deal. A lender comfortable at $2.79 million per MW on a newly operating plant has set a marker. Whether other operating Japanese solar assets can borrow near that level depends on how many of them combine a fresh start date with a clean year of output.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Enfinity Global raise for the Aomori solar plant? Enfinity Global secured $195 million of long-term financing for the 70 MW Aomori solar power plant in Japan, announced on 26 April 2024, with Nomura Securities International and Aozora Bank as arrangers.
When did the Aomori solar plant start operating? Construction started in September 2022 and operations began in March 2024, about a month before the financing was announced. The plant is expected to produce more than 75 GWh a year.
How does the Aomori loan compare with other Japanese solar financings? At about $2.79 million per MW it is the highest of the five Japanese solar debt financings Enerdatics records from 2023 to mid-2025, against $0.66 million per MW for Enfinity's 250 MW portfolio loan in July 2024.
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