Japan commissions first large-scale offshore wind farms

Japanese conglomerate Marubeni has commissioned the country’s first large-scale offshore wind farms, bringing online more than 140MW of capacity off the north-east coast of its main island of Honshu.

by Craig Richard 31 January 2023

The projects consist of 33 of Vestas’ V117/4.2MW turbines installed on fixed-bottom foundations

It has launched “full-scale operations” at its 54.6MW Akita Port and 84MW Noshiro Port projects off the coast of Akita prefecture.

The projects consist of 33 of Vestas’ V117/4.2MW turbines installed on fixed-bottom foundations.

Both wind farms are now receiving a feed-in tariff.

Marubeni’s partners in the JPY 100 billion ($768 million) project included Obayashi Corporation, Cosmo Eco Power, Tepco and various Japanese utilities.

Japan has launched a tender programme to support 10GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and up to 45GW by 2040. However, it had to revise regulations to encourage a wider range of bidders to take part.

Until today, Japan had also not commissioned large-scale offshore winds, though it had commissioned a handful of small demonstration projects.

Marubeni is eyeing a significant role in Japan’s expected offshore wind build-out, teaming with oil major BP to target development.