Japan Set to Open New Offshore Wind Territories

Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA) has urged the Japanese government to introduce a new law which will allow construction of offshore wind farms outside port-related sea areas.

JWPA’s president Manabu Takamoto visited the Ministry of Infrastructure, Land and Tourism (MILT) on 21 December and handed over a request paper to the government officials.

The association has also proposed the introduction of guaranteed long-term site leases of up to 30 years, as well as using a bidding system to select offshore wind developers. JWPA has also requested that current regulations related to the environmental impacts of the projects and grid connection are harmonised.

In May 2016, MILT amended the country’s Port and Harbor law to allow construction and operation of offshore wind farms at port-associated sea areas, which helped kick-start a  number of projects, JWPA said.

The general common sea area is much broader and has much larger potential, estimated at around 100GW, according to JWPA.

JWPA expects that the Japanese government will release a new law for the development of offshore wind at the general common sea area in January 2018.

A recent study has found that Japan could have up to 10GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030.