Wind Energy – Japan
Japan has recently announced a plan to develop 15GW of floating wind by 2040, which is almost half of its overall offshore wind buildout targets.
Japan is fully committed to reaching this target. FLOWRA, its member companies, and other firms across the broader Japan supply chain are working to establish a foundation for successfully achieving the ambitious goals.
The first auction is planned for 2029 and supported by a recently passed amendment allowing offshore wind farms in their EEZ, the sixth largest in the world. While there are some headwinds in Round 1 projects and the general global market challenges (inflation, high labour costs, and supply chain challenges), some revisions have already been introduced to mitigate these.
For example, an electricity adjustment scheme to account for inflation, extended lease durations over 30 years, and support schemes by the Green Innovation Fund.
In light of these developments, it was a timely move by Japan’s FLOWRA bundling 21 of Japan’s major energy companies and developers for FLOWRA’s second international Forum and a subsequent 2 day international event in Kyoto, gathering representatives from several European nations to discuss learnings and ways to support Japan’s ambitious floating wind goals by addressing costs, risks, technical challenges and discussing ways to defragment regulatory frameworks.
