Equinor Joins Japanese Offshore Wind Race

The three companies will form a consortium and jointly evaluate and work towards submitting a joint bid in the Round 1 auction once the Japanese government officially opens what will be the country’s first offshore wind auction.

“We have joined forces with Jera and J-Power, two strong local partners, to participate in Japan’s first offshore wind auction and develop what could potentially be Equinor’s first offshore wind farm in Japan”, says Senior vice president for Business development in New Energy Solutions in Equinor, Jens Økland.

The Japanese Government has decided to declare Yurihonjo and Noshiro, two areas offshore the northern Japanese prefecture of Akita, as best suited to start the country's offshore adventure on a big scale. Each represents an area for bottom-fixed offshore wind farms of approximately 400 MW and 700 MW respectively. The upcoming auction is anticipated to start within the next months, with bid submission taking place six months after the auction opens. Once the auction is closed, the results are expected to be announced towards the end of 2021. Potential wind farms would then tentatively be operative post 2025.

“Japan has a high potential to develop a market for offshore wind. Their ambitions to increase their renewable energy sources from today’s 15-16% to about 22-24 % by 2030 hereunder a target of 10 GW wind capacity to meet their climate change commitments and become more energy independent, present exciting opportunities,” says Økland.