Japanese technology conglomerate and solar technology manufacturer Kyocera has revealed plans to beef up its presence in the country’s booming solar market, unveiling proposals for a new 70MW solar farm and further investments in utility scale solar plants.

The company announced today it has reached an agreement with Mizuho Corporate Bank and engineering giant IHI Corporation to jointly develop a new “mega-solar plant” in Kagoshima City in the south of the country, hailing the project as Japan’s largest solar farm to date.

Under the terms of the agreement, Kyocera will provide the solar modules, IHI will lease the land, and Mizuho will develop a financing plan for the project.

A joint venture backed by the three companies and a host of other potential investors will then operate the plant, with Kyocera stating that it intends to take the largest stake in the new venture.

The companies also agreed to “further explore a business model for utility-scale solar power generation”.

The giant new solar farm is expected to cover 314 acres and feature around 290,000 PV solar panels.

Kyocera said the development would generate around 79,000MWh of electricity a year, providing power for roughly 22,000 average households and reducing annual carbon emissions by approximately 25,000 tons.

The total investment is expected to reach around 25bn yen ($309m) with construction scheduled to start in July.

The move is the latest in a string of solar projects to be announced in Japan following the government’s decision to phase out nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima disaster and launch a new feed-in tariff scheme from this July to drive renewable energy investment.