Japan’s efforts over the past ten years have fallen behind those of other countries that have been actively developing and promoting various frameworks for offshore wind power. In more recent times, however, there have been gradual moves to promote this power source, including the establishment of the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities (Marine Renewable Energy Utilization Act, 2019)3. Under this legislation, general sea areas that meet various requirements for offshore wind power projects may be designated as Promotion Zones, which operators can occupy for up to 30 years. In July 2019, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy and the Ports and Harbours Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism identified 11 sea areas they considered to have progressed to a certain level of preparations. They determined that four of those sea areas were promising and would begin organizing councils for the coordination of stakeholders and taking other required action for those four areas4 (Figure 1) 5. Once these areas have been formally designated as Promotion Zones, developers will be selected through a public tender process.

*The following four areas have made progress in developing an environment for starting projects, e.g., obtaining consent from the local community; Therefore, preparations for organizing councils and for government-led wind-conditions and geological surveys will begin immediately.
・Sea area offshore Noshiro City, Mitane Town and Oga City, Akita Prefecture
・Sea area offshore Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture (northern and southern sides of the prefecture)
・Sea area offshore Choshi City, Chiba Prefecture
・Sea area offshore Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture
The current situation regarding these four promising areas is as follows:
On December 27, 2019, the sea area offshore Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture became the first of the four areas to be designated as a Promotion Zone6. Toda Corporation had previously undergone the Ministry of the Environment’s Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program in the near vicinity before relocating the turbine and commencing commercial operation of in April 2016 (The single 2MW turbine built by Hitachi, Ltd. who announced its withdrawal from the manufacture of turbines on January 25, 2019) 7, 8. Because the subject of this public tender is floating offshore wind power, the operator selection process has no element of cost competition during bidding due to the fixed price of 36 yen/kWh9, and preference is given to previous operational experience, preceding operators are seen as having an advantage in the public tender process.
Akita Prefecture, which is enthusiastic about the introduction of offshore wind power, has two promising areas. Several developers have been competing in the sea area offshore Noshiro City, Mitane Town and Oga City for some time. The Northern Akita Offshore Wind Farm Project LLC comprises Obayashi Corporation as the representative member, with the addition of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. and Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc., as executive members10. The scale of the project is a maximum output of 455 MW from a maximum of 120 turbines. In terms of its environmental impact assessment, a primary environmental impact consideration was published in March 2016, followed by a draft of the assessment method in June 2016, and a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in November 201911. Sumitomo Corporation is also proceeding with plans for a project with a maximum output of 540 MW, releasing a primary environmental impact consideration in July 201912. In May 2020, Sumitomo Corporation announced to form a consortium with TEPCO Renewable Power Inc. and six other companies13. Chubu Electric Power Company, Inc. and Mitsubishi Corporation Power Ltd. also released a primary environmental impact consideration for an environmental impact assessment for this area in June 2020 (maximum output 480 MW)14.
In the other Akita area, the sea area offshore Yurihonjo City, the preceding operator, Akita Yurihonjo Offshore Wind Farm Project LLC, comprising RENOVA, Inc., Cosmo Eco Power Co., Ltd., JR-EAST Energy Development Co., Ltd., and Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc., is pursuing a project15. The scale of the project is a maximum output of 1,000 MW from a maximum of 140 turbines. In terms of environmental impact assessment, a primary environmental impact consideration was published in May 2017, followed by a draft of the assessment method in November 2017, and a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in October 201916. It has also been reported that RWE Renewables Japan G.K., a Japanese subsidiary of a major German power company, and Kyuden Mirai Energy Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc., are considering a joint venture project17. Venti Japan Inc., Chubu Electric Power Company, Inc., and Mitsubishi Corporation Power Ltd. are also known to be considering a project in this area18.
On the Pacific Ocean side, the sea area offshore Choshi City, Chiba Prefecture has also been cited as a promising area. In January 2019, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. and Ørsted A/S, concluded a MOU on cooperation and in March 2020 announced an agreement to establish a joint venture company, Choshi Offshore Wind Farm K.K., and would proceed with development toward a joint bid in a public tender in Japan's Choshi offshore promotion area19. The scale of this project is a maximum output of 370 MW(maximum of 72 x 5.2 MW turbines – maximum of 31 x 12 MW turbines) 20. Noted that the TEPCO Group has experience in a verification trial offshore Choshi, conducted jointly with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)21.
On June 16, 2020, a draft proposal for Promotion Zone designation was published for inspection regarding the three areas other than the sea area offshore Goto City in Nagasaki Prefecture, which has already been designated22. On July 3, 2020, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy and the Ports and Harbours Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism identified ten areas considered to have progressed to a certain level of preparations as candidates for designation as Promotion Zones in the current fiscal year. Of those ten areas, four areas, namely, the Sea of Japan offshore Aomori Prefecture (northern side of the prefecture), the Sea of Japan offshore Aomori Prefecture (southern side of the prefecture), the sea area offshore Happo Town and Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture, and the sea area offshore Eno Island, Saikai City, Nagasaki Prefecture, were announced as promising areas23. There has since been a variety of activity aimed at accelerating the commercialization of wind power in these areas.
In this fiscal year, the first developers are scheduled to be selected by public tender under the Marine Renewable Energy Utilization Act, and a second-round public tender has also started for the Promotion Zones. Developers submitting bids will be assessed on factors concerning price and feasibility and will be given a score out of 120. In the selection, it is hoped that fairness between developers will be ensured and that there will be an accumulation of examples that take future expansion into consideration.
As an industry-wide commitment, the wind power industry has established the Japan Offshore Wind Task Force to bring a wealth of knowledge to Japan from overseas and to promote the expansion of the offshore wind power business24. In addition, the Public-Private Council on Enhancement of Industrial Competitiveness for Offshore Wind Power has been established, emulating similar moves in Europe. This action is leading the public and private sectors to work together to expand the industry by identifying the challenges involved in the development of offshore wind power projects and clarifying the policies needed25.
Offshore wind power has exceptionally high domestic potential compared to Japan's electricity demand, making it an important energy source for decarbonization in Japan. In addition, given the large scale of projects and the diverse range of related industries involved, it will be necessary to attract both domestic and foreign investment to grow the industry into a new leading industry in Japan. The Renewable Energy Institute will make recommendations for the expansion of and support for this movement, while monitoring the various developments in the industry, as it has done in this article.
- All links have been accessed on 21 July 2020.
- 1Agency for Natural Resources and Energy "Strategic Energy Plan"
- 2Japan Wind Power Association 「洋上風力発電の導入推進に向けた提言の公表について(28 February 2018)」
- 3Agency for Natural Resources and Energy 「洋上風力発電関連制度 法令集」
- 4Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Promising Sea Areas and Sites Selected for Targeted Promotion as an effort under the Act of Promoting Utilization of Sea Areas in Development of Power Generation Facilities Using Maritime Renewable Energy Resources (30 July 2019)"
- 5Agency for Natural Resources and Energy 「洋上風力発電関連制度 秋田県由利本荘市沖における協議会 第1回」
- 6Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Area Offshore Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Designated for Power Generating Project (27 December 2019)"
- 7Toda Corporation 「Vol.2 国内初!浮体式洋上風力発電設備を実用化」
- 8Hitachi, Ltd. "Hitachi Strengthens Wind Power Generation System Business (25 January 2019)"
- 9Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Calculation Committee for Procurement Price, etc. 「第55回 調達価格等算定委員会 (4 February 2020)」Projected output is 21 MW.
- 10Obayashi Corporation「『秋田県北部洋上風力合同会社』への東北電力と能代資源の参画について(17 October 2019)」
- 11Akita Prefecture 「(仮称)秋田県北部洋上風力発電事業 (29 May 2020) 」
- 12Akita Prefecture 「(仮称)能代・三種・男鹿沖洋上風力発電事業 (26 September 2019)」
- 13Sumitomo Corporation "Consortium Formed for Offshore Wind Power Project Near Noshiro, Mitane and Oga in Akita Prefecture (29 May 2020)"
- 14Akita Prefecture 「(仮称)秋田県能代市・三種町・男鹿市沖における洋上風力発電事業 (1 July 2020)」
- 15RENOVA, Inc. "Selection of Wind Turbines for the Akita Yurihonjo Offshore Wind Power Generation Project (9 April 2020)"
- 16Akita Prefecture 「(仮称)秋田県由利本荘市沖洋上風力発電事業 (13 March 2020)」
- 17Akita Sakigake Shimpo 「由利本荘沖の洋上風力、2社共同で参入検討 (28 May 2020)」
- 18Akita Sakigake Shimpo 「由利本荘沖で洋上風力を検討 ウェンティ社など3社(29 May 2020)」
- 19Ørsted A/S "TEPCO and Ørsted agree to establish a Joint Venture company for Offshore Wind in Choshi (18 March 2020)"
- 20Chiba Prefecture 「(仮称)銚子沖洋上風力発電事業(法対象事業)(7 January 2020)」
- 21Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated 「銚子沖洋上風力発電所の概要」Currently in commercial operation (2.4 MW, 1 turbine).
- 22Agency for Natural Resources and Energy 「洋上風力発電関連制度 促進区域の指定について」
- 23Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "FY2020 Promising Sea Areas and Sites Selected for Future Designation of Project Target Areas (3 July 2020)"
- 24Japan Wind Power Association "JWPA and GWEC launch joint Task Force to drive offshore wind growth in Japan (27 February 2020)." Renewable Energy Institute is a member of the taskforce.
- 25Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "First Meeting of Public-Private Council on Enhancement of Industrial Competitiveness for Offshore Wind Power Generation to be Held (9 July 2020)"