Clean Energy Connect

What Clean Energy Connect does

Clean Energy Connect, Inc. (株式会社クリーンエナジーコネクト) is a Tokyo-headquartered renewable-energy company founded in April 2020 by Teppei Uchida (formerly of Tokyo Electric Power). It develops Non-FIT, low-voltage, distributed small-scale solar plants nationwide — reaching 2,700+ sites by March 2026 at an addition rate of roughly 100 sites per month — and monetizes them primarily through long-term (commonly 20+ year) offsite corporate Power Purchase Agreements, plus a parallel Virtual PPA structure that delivers environmental value with additionality to large customers such as Google and Amazon. The company's core technology is CEC-Cloud, a proprietary digital platform that centralizes power-plant development status, electricity data, billing, remote monitoring, anomaly detection, demand/generation forecasting, and battery control across thousands of geographically dispersed sites, enabling standardized operation as if the portfolio were a single virtual power plant and underpinning a demonstrated 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) capability combining solar, battery storage, and hourly matching at the TD Terrace Utsunomiya pilot project.

Clean Energy Connect serves two primary customer groups: global hyperscale data-center operators with public 24/7 CFE / RE100 commitments (Google, Amazon), and a long tail of RE100- and decarbonization-driven Japanese corporates across insurance (Dai-ichi Life), banking (Toho Bank, San'in Godo Bank, Chugoku Bank), real estate (Tokyu, Nomura Real Estate, Hulic, Mitsubishi Estate), telecommunications (NTT Group), retail (Sugi Holdings), imaging (Fujifilm), industrial equipment (Azbil), and trading (Nagase). Revenue is generated through Offsite Corporate PPAs, Virtual PPAs, Decarbonization Consulting (GX Solution), Environmental Certificate Procurement Support, PPA Management Support for partner retail electricity providers, and ancillary land-purchase and project-finance activities; cumulative fundraising reached ¥80.6 billion by May 2026 across multiple green-bond, syndicated-loan, project-finance, and Series B/C/D equity tranches from strategic investors including KDDI, ITOCHU, Kansai Electric Power, Azbil, Dai-ichi Life, Shimizu, Tokyu Construction, and Eco Style.

Name

Clean Energy Connect

Legal name

株式会社クリーンエナジーコネクト (Clean Energy Connect, Inc.)

Website

https://cleanenergyconnect.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Clean Energy Connect, founded in Tokyo in 2020, develops and aggregates Non-FIT low-voltage distributed solar plants across Japan (2,700+ sites as of March 2026) and sells the electricity and environmental value to enterprises — including Google, Amazon, and RE100-committed Japanese corporates — via long-term offsite corporate PPAs, Virtual PPAs, and decarbonization consulting, operated through its proprietary CEC-Cloud platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Renewable Energy / Off-site Solar PPA Services

NAICS

Solar Electric Power Generation (221114)

SIC

Cogeneration Services & Small Power Producers (4991), Electric Services (4911)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial Structuring & Offtake (PPAs, CfDs, Corporate PPAs, Merchant Strategy) (EUAMAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Distributed Generation (DG) Solar & Small Wind (EUAMAJAD), DER Financing, Leasing & Billing Platforms (TPO, PPA, On-Bill) (EUAMAJAJ), Retail Supply & Corporate Energy Procurement (Green Tariffs, Retail PPAs, C&I Supply) (EUAMAMAM), Renewable Energy Infrastructure (FSAAAKAG)

Keywords

• Corporate PPA services
• Non-FIT solar development
• Renewable energy consulting
• Decarbonization solutions
• Distributed solar operations

Headquarters

HQ city

Otemachi

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Offsite Corporate PPA Service: Long-term (often 20+ year) power purchase agreements under which CEC develops customer-exclusive Non-FIT low-voltage solar plants and supplies the electricity and environmental value to corporate customers. This is the core recurring revenue engine.
2. Virtual PPA: Long-term contracts with corporate customers (e.g., Google) for environmental value from new Non-FIT solar plants with additionality, settled as a contract-for-difference; allows customers to retain existing retail electricity supply while sourcing additional environmental attributes.
3. Green Power Solution / Decarbonization Consulting: One-stop decarbonization consulting from renewable energy procurement planning to execution support, post-implementation effect verification, and target achievement, including renewable energy strategy planning, demand-side new power retail setup, and storage battery introduction advisory.
4. Environmental Certificate Procurement Support: Advisory and procurement support for non-fossil certificates (including tracked non-fossil certificates) and carbon credits, tailored to each customer's industry, size, and emissions profile.
5. Land Purchase for Solar Development: Direct purchase of suitable idle/agricultural land (800 m²+) nationwide to be converted into Non-FIT solar power plant sites, monetized through downstream PPA revenues.
6. Long-term Project Finance-backed Power Plant Operation: Project finance (e.g., 19.5 billion yen from SBI Shinsei Bank in May 2026) used to develop approximately 1,600 Non-FIT solar sites (~140 MW-DC), with revenues collected via long-term corporate PPAs supporting stable, predictable cash flows.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Clean Energy Connect develops customer-exclusive Non-FIT low-voltage solar power plants across Japan and supplies the resulting electricity and environmental value to corporate off-takers through long-term Off-site Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (and Virtual PPAs). Its GX Solution portfolio integrates solar development, battery-enabled 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy supply, PPA operations support, decarbonization consulting, environmental certificate procurement, and land sourcing, all managed through the proprietary CEC-Cloud digital platform. Customers include global hyperscalers such as Google and Amazon and major Japanese RE100 corporates including Dai-ichi Life, NTT Group, Tokyu, Nomura Real Estate, Fujifilm, Mitsubishi Estate, Sugi Holdings, Azbil, Hulic, and regional banks.

Product overview

Clean Energy Connect operates a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on a single unified renewable-energy service portfolio branded GX Solution (GXソリューション), rather than a standalone software product. The core engine is the Non-FIT Low-Voltage Solar Power Plant Development and Operation business, which builds and aggregates thousands of small distributed solar sites nationwide; this is monetized primarily through the flagship Off-site Corporate PPA service (also offered as a Virtual PPA structure), and supported by PPA Management Support, Decarbonization Consulting, Environmental Certificate Procurement Support, and Land Purchase for Solar Development. Layered on top are the add-on modules GX Monitor (progress tracking/reporting) and GX Manager (execution support), the Sonaeru Outlet® community-resilience feature embedded in PPA deployments, and the 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (24/7 CFE) service combining solar, batteries and hourly matching. The entire portfolio is operated through CEC-Cloud®, CEC's proprietary digital platform that unifies development tracking, power-plant data, billing, remote monitoring, demand/generation forecasting, anomaly detection, and partner-developer collaboration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CEC-Cloud / CEC-Cloud™: Proprietary digital platform for centralized power plant development status, electricity data, billing information, remote monitoring and standardized operational processes.
• 備えるコンセント (Sonaeru Outlet / 'Emergency Outlet for Our Neighbors')

Products and services

• Off-site Corporate PPA (オフサイトコーポレートPPA) Long-term (typically 20+ year) corporate Power Purchase Agreement under which Clean Energy Connect develops customer-exclusive Non-FIT low-voltage solar plants and supplies the resulting electricity and environmental value to corporate off-takers, supporting additionality-based renewable procurement and 24/7 CFE when combined with battery storage.
• Virtual PPA (バーチャルPPA) Financial/virtual PPA structure through which CEC provides long-term environmental value with additionality from new Non-FIT solar plants to corporate customers (e.g., Google) without changing their existing electricity supply arrangements; typically settled as a contract-for-difference with FIP premium combination.
• PPA Management Support (PPA運営サポート) Operational support service for PPA deployment, including solar power plant development, electricity tariff reconciliation, and stakeholder coordination, offered to partner retail electricity providers and regional energy companies.
• Decarbonization Consulting (脱炭素コンサルティング) End-to-end consulting covering decarbonization strategy planning, energy-data analysis, milestone and roadmap development, execution of renewable energy and emission-reduction measures, and ongoing monitoring against goals for corporate customers pursuing RE100, SBT, and CDP commitments.
• Environmental Certificate Procurement Support (環境証書調達支援) Procurement support for non-fossil certificates (including tracked non-fossil certificates) and other environmental/carbon credits, tailored to each customer's industry, size, and emissions profile and aligned with RE100, CDP, and Warming Act reporting.
• Non-FIT Low-Voltage Solar Power Plant Development and Operation (発電所開発運営) Decentralized nationwide development and operation of Non-FIT low-voltage solar power plants (2,700+ sites as of March 2026), typically on abandoned farmland, with ~6-month build cycles and aggregation across portfolios to mitigate weather and disaster risk; monetized through downstream corporate PPAs.
• Land Purchase for Solar Development (土地買取) Acquisition of idle land/farmland (≥800 m², with good sun exposure and nearby utility poles) nationwide for conversion into Non-FIT solar power plant sites, including remote handling of applications and procedures; monetized through downstream PPA revenues.
• 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (24/7 CFE) Service High-tier renewable offering that combines Non-FIT solar, battery storage, and hourly matching (with future integration of wind and BEMS) to deliver 100% carbon-free electricity on an hourly basis 24/7/365 to corporate customers, as demonstrated at TD Terrace Utsunomiya for Dai-ichi Life and Toho Bank.
• GX Solution (GXソリューション) Integrated decarbonization service bundle that combines renewable energy introduction planning, execution, environmental-value utilization, and monitoring/operations for corporate customers pursuing decarbonization management; combines Off-site Corporate PPA, PPA Management Support, Decarbonization Consulting, and Environmental Certificate Procurement Support with GX Monitor and GX Manager modules.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,700+ Non-FIT small-scale solar plants developed across Japan (as of March/June 2026), with approximately 100 sites added per month.
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Shizen Energy Inc. One of Japan's largest independent renewable energy developers and IPPs, also offering corporate PPA solutions and operating a distributed solar/onsite PPA portfolio. Highly comparable as a Japanese renewable IPP and corporate PPA provider, competing for the same hyperscaler and RE100 demand pool as Clean Energy Connect.
• Pacifico Energy KK: Japanese solar and wind developer with utility-scale and corporate PPA offerings. Directly comparable to CEC in delivering large-scale additionality-backed renewable PPAs to Japanese corporates and data center operators.
• Renova Inc. Listed Japanese renewable energy IPP developing solar, wind, biomass and geothermal projects, including corporate PPAs. Comparable as a Japanese multi-technology renewable developer pursuing corporate off-takers.
• Eco Style Co., Ltd. Japanese distributed solar developer and CEC investor/partner that co-developed the Amazon PPA. Comparable as a peer in the Non-FIT small-scale distributed solar and corporate PPA segment, and an actual channel partner of CEC.
• Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation: Tokyo-based renewable energy IPP (solar, wind, biomass) majority-owned by Toyota Tsusho. Comparable to CEC as a Japan-focused renewable IPP and corporate PPA provider with significant project finance and asset management capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) / TEPCO Renewable Power: Japan's largest utility, with a renewable energy arm pursuing solar, wind, hydro and geothermal projects and corporate energy supply. Comparable as a large incumbent entering the corporate PPA and renewable space, where CEC's CEO Teppei Uchida previously worked.
• Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. Major Japanese utility and existing CEC shareholder/strategic partner via subsidiary E-Flow. Comparable as a broad incumbent that both supplies power and develops renewables, and that competes with and partners with CEC on corporate decarbonization.
• ENEOS Corporation: Japan's largest energy company with growing renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass) and hydrogen operations. Comparable as a large incumbent building out renewable supply to meet corporate PPA and decarbonization demand.

Emerging players

• Granular Energy: European-headquartered software platform that enables 24/7 carbon-free energy hourly matching between renewable generators and corporate buyers. Comparable to CEC-Cloud's 24/7 CFE matching capability, although as a software-only emerging player without the underlying solar assets.
• FlexiDAO: Software provider for 24/7 CFE hourly matching and energy attribute certificates across global corporate buyers and generators. Comparable as an emerging player addressing the same 24/7 CFE procurement problem CEC targets with TD Terrace Utsunomiya, but as a non-asset platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

Investors20 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clean Energy Connect