Japan names offshore wind farm winners

The Japanese government has chosen a consortium comprising Japan Renewable Energy, Iberdrola Renewables and Tohoku Electric Power as the wind power operator for an offshore block tendered in a second round of auctions.

The 375-megawatt (MW) wind farm is located off the coast of Happo-Noshiro in Akita prefecture in northern Japan and is part of Japan’s efforts to grow its offshore wind market to 10 gigawatt (GW) by 2030, and up to 45 GW by 2040.

Danish wind turbine maker Vestas will provide turbines for the Happo-Noshiro project that should be launched in June 2029, the government’s statement said.

The second major public auctions round aims to build a total of 1.8 GW of capacity across four blocks.

“Japan has ambitious targets for offshore wind development, and it is a market Iberdrola has been contributing to for several years now,” said Xabier Viteri, global director of Iberdrola’s renewables business.

“This latest development expands our options to deliver new projects in the years ahead.”

Iberdrola is the second foreign company to win an offshore wind farm in Japan following the auction.

In December, the government announced German renewable energy company RWE was awarded another block, also in partnership with local players, and made public the winners of three other wind farms.

Each of the three winning consortia comprised a trading house and either an electricity or a gas utility.

RWE, the world’s second-biggest offshore wind company, has said it plans further expansions into Japan’s offshore wind sector after winning its first project, an executive told Reuters in January, and also considers South Korea a promising market.

The selection process for the Happo-Noshiro block was delayed due to the overlapping use of a port. – Reuters