Deutsche Bank is said to be planning loans worth around $1 billion (£0.6bn) to solar energy projects in Japan.

Hans Van Der Sande at the German bank’s Tokyo branch said it is ready to dish out loans for three to six projects in the next year or 18 months, reported Bloomberg.

He said: “We got reverse inquiries from some of our clients offshore saying ‘we are interested in Japan solar and developing projects there but having difficulty getting finance from Japanese banks,’” according to the news site.

Japan’s U-turn on nuclear energy after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011 has left it with a large power supply gap.