Akihabara News (Tokyo) — A consortium led by the Toda Corporation recently won the tender for an offshore wind farm in Nagasaki, opening a new chapter for Japan’s offshore wind energy projects.
The floating wind farm is slated to have a capacity of 16.8 megawatt and will be located in waters off the coast of Goto city, Nagasaki Prefecture.
This wind farm project is being operated by a consortium called Goto City Offshore Wind Power Generation. It is led by Toda and includes Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric, Eneos Corporation, Inpex Corporation, and Chubu Electric.
A first-of-its-kind open bidding process for the Goto location was conducted in the second half of 2020. The Toda-led consortium was the only applicant.
In December 2018, the National Diet passed the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities, setting the stage for the current developments.
In July 2019, the government identified eleven ocean areas it believes potentially suitable for the development of offshore wind farms, including four areas off Akita Prefecture, three areas off Aomori Prefecture, two areas (including Goto) off Nagasaki Prefecture, and one area each belonging to Niigata Prefecture and the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
In April, the offshore construction phase of the 139 megawatt Akita Noshiro Offshore Wind Farm project began. That project, which expects to launch commercial operations at the end of 2022, is in the hands of a consortium led by the Marubeni Corporation.
Japan’s government has set a target of generating up to 45 gigawatt of power through offshore wind power annually by 2040.
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