Toyota Tsusho, a member of Toyota Group, and its renewable energy unit Eurus Energy Holdings have announced that they will develop what they describe as Japan’s first data centre directly powered by wind generation, a project that aligns with Tokyo’s efforts to balance booming digital infrastructure demand with renewable energy goals.
Japan’s data centre market has surged in recent years, with estimates suggesting the number of facilities and demand for processing capacity could grow sharply as companies and public agencies expand cloud and AI services. Forecasts suggest that by the mid-2030s Japan could see its data centre power demand more than triple, with a geographic mismatch emerging between urban data stacks, where demand is concentrated, and renewable power sources.
The project, to be located in the city of Wakkanai in Hokkaido, is scheduled to begin operations in the second half of 2027 and will supply data centre power primarily from onshore wind generation directly to the facility, without routing electricity through the national grid, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday.
Dubbed the Soya Green Data Centre I, the facility will have a power reception capacity of 3 megawatts (MW) and will be built adjacent to Eurus Energy’s Kabauka wind farm, which has a total installed capacity of 42 MW. Electricity will be supplied via a privately operated transmission line, a model the companies refer to as “direct green power”.
Toyota Tsusho will operate the container-based data centre and IT services, while Eurus Energy will manage the land, buildings and power infrastructure. The companies said they plan to offer wholesale and colocation services depending on customer demand.
They estimate that at least 80 per cent of the facility’s electricity needs will be met by wind power, with shortfalls covered by renewable electricity certificates supplied by Eurus Energy subsidiaries.
Japan has struggled to expand renewable energy use in power-intensive industries such as data centres due to grid constraints and the concentration of demand in urban areas. The project aims to address that by colocating power-hungry infrastructure near renewable energy sources, the companies said.
Eurus Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho, is Japan’s largest renewable power producer, operating wind, solar and biomass projects across 16 countries with a total installed capacity of about 5.1 gigawatts (GW).
The firm has already developed more than 525 MW of wind projects in northern Hokkaido and said total capacity in the region could reach up to 1.8 GW, though limited local electricity demand and transmission capacity have constrained further expansion.
By creating local demand through data centres, the companies aim to promote “local production for local consumption” of renewable power, reducing reliance on costly grid upgrades.
Toyota Tsusho said it plans to expand data centre capacity in the region to 10–20 MW by around 2030, with a longer-term goal of developing a renewable-powered data centre cluster exceeding 100 MW.
NTT Docomo Business, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Japan, said it plans to extend its network services to Wakkanai to support remote data processing between northern Hokkaido and major metropolitan areas.
Wakkanai’s mayor said the project could serve as a catalyst for industrial transformation in a city historically reliant on primary industries, citing the area’s cool climate, stable geology and abundant wind resources as advantages for data centre development.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s 2025 energy and strategic planning documents have forecast rising power demand linked to data centres and other digital infrastructure. Projections for 2030 increased total forecast electricity load partly on this basis, prompting debate over how best to supply low-carbon power without overburdening grids.
The government policy documents explicitly promote energy-efficient data centres, wider regional dispersion and increased use of renewables in digital infrastructure as part of climate and industrial strategy. They also call for supporting innovation such as liquid cooling and other efficiency measures, though widespread deployment remains nascent.
