Japan expands offshore wind zone as SSE plans 6GW pipeline
Japan expands offshore wind zone as SSE plans 6GW pipeline | Windpower Monthly
Japan is heavily reliant on fossil fuels to meet its energy demand but is targeting a massive expansion of offshore wind in line with its energy transition goals.
The country aims to have 10GW of capacity by 2030 and up to 45GW by 2040. It currently has around 425MW of installed offshore wind capacity, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly.
The new bill would permit offshore wind farms to be installed further from shore than territorial waters - within Japan’s exclusive economic zones (EEZs) that extend far beyond the mainland - to encompass the seas around smaller island territories such as the North Pacific Ocean, East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, Reuters reported today (12 March).
"Through this bill, we will be able to create stable and large-scale projects in the sea area," economy, trade and industry minister Ken Saito told the news agency.
The new scheme would adopt a two-step approval process whereby Japan's trade and industry ministry would select installation areas and assign “tentative approval” to applicants.
The second stage would include official approval following consultations with various interested groups including maritime industries.
SSE Pacifico pipeline
Meanwhile, SSE Pacifico, the Japanese subsidiary of UK-based developer SSE Renewables, has announced plans to develop a pipeline of 6GW of offshore wind in the country.
"Our official target is to deliver our projects in a pipeline of 6GW," Dai Karasawa, president of SSE Pacifico, told Reuters yesterday (11 March).
A spokesperson for SSE Pacifico told Windpower Monthly: "The projects are in development and are dependent on the government designating those areas as promotion zones which are then auctioned."
The spokesperson also praised the plans to expand Japan's offshore wind development into the EEZ.
"We welcome the publication of the Bill which will enable Japan to expand offshore wind development into its EEZ. It will open up the potential for floating wind projects at scale and maximise the huge potential of Japan’s coastline," they said.
The spokesperson added: "We are particularly pleased that a two-stage process will be adopted similar to the UK, where seabed development rights are awarded to developers in the first stage and then access to a subsidy auction comes later."
Karasawa said that around half of the proposed 6GW pipeline would be fixed-bottom foundations, with the remaining 3GW floating offshore projects better suited to the deep waters found around much of Japan coastlines, Reuters reported.
Japan launched its third offshore wind tender in January with just over 1GW of capacity available to bidders. German utility RWE was among the developers which signalled an interest.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.