Japan: NEDO Takes Further Offshore Wind Steps

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO) has announced two tenders to be launched in early February, aiming to support the development of both floating and fixed-bottom offshore wind projects in the country.

For floating wind, NEDO is looking to carry out a project that will demonstrate a floating wind system using advanced component technologies that will contribute to further lowering cost of floating offshore wind power generation.

The other tender involves a project supporting early development of offshore wind farms, such as detailed design and environmental surveys, in multiple areas including general common sea area.

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. In December 2017, Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA) said it expected the Japanese government to release a new law for the development of offshore wind at the general common sea area in January 2018.

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