J-POWER USA and funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, LLC have collaborated to develop a 50 MW solar power plant and 190 MW energy storage facility to convert Birchwood Power, a coal plant. The coal plant which has been operational since 1996 will now be replaced by a solar plus storage project. Birchwood Power Facility is a 258.3 MW coal-fired power station co-owned and operated by J-POWER and General Electric near King George, Virginia.
The Birchwood solar plus storage project will take advantage of the evacuation and transmission infrastructure which is already in place due to the coal-fired plant. This project is J-POWER USA’s third solar project. This will also enable us to continue our long-term partnership with the local community. As the Birchwood Power coal plant is decommissioned, J-POWER USA’s portfolio will now only consist of natural gas and renewable energy.
With this project, J-POWER USA along with its affiliate companies now have interests in operating, construction and development power generating facilities, totaling approximately 7,000 MW. 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. Started in 1998, Fortress Investment Group is a global investment manager which manages $49.9 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2020, on behalf of approximately 1,800 institutional clients and private investors.