Japanese wind firm involved in ‘racehorse bribes’ scandal sold
Japanese wind firm involved in ‘racehorse bribes’ scandal sold | Windpower Monthly
Japanese construction firm Infroneer Holdings is due to buy Japan Wind Development in a deal worth more than JPY 200 billion ($1.36 billion), it announced today (12 December).
The deal is expected to close in late January, though Infroneer is also due to investigate “compliance issues” at its would-be subsidiary.
Infroneer claimed that by combining an offshore wind developer with its own engineering and construction expertise, it can “develop renewable energy in an integrated manner”.
“Although the company has one of the top development records in Japan, compliance issues have occurred, suggesting that there may have been issues with governance and compliance systems in the past,” Infroneer stated in a presentation announcing the acquisition.
It will therefore bring in “outside experts” to carry out a “detailed investigation” that can then help it create a “solid governance system”, it added.
Japan Wind Development became embroiled in a political scandal after a Japanese lawmaker resigned amid accusations that he took bribes to speak about the company’s planned offshore wind farm off Aomori in the national legislature. The bribes were allegedly made through investments in a racehorse owners' group, the Japan Times reported. Its president also stood down.
The company has developed approximately 570MW of wind power capacity in Japan and overseas, according to the presentation. It also has a development pipeline of about 3.8GW of projects.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: wind
Decades of government support for the development of wind energy has resulted in lower costs and a rapidly growing share of electricity generated by wind turbines. Wind in 2019 accounted for 7.3 percent of electrical generation, surpassing for the first time hydropower at 7.0 percent.