Aker Offshore Wind, Mainstream Renewable Power Take 50 Pct Stake in Japanese Floating Project

Aker Offshore Wind and Mainstream Renewable Power have closed the transaction on acquiring a 50 per cent ownership stake in Progression Energy’s 800 MW floating wind project in Japan.

The two companies’ entrance into the project was announced in August 2021, when Aker Offshore Wind and Mainstream Renewable Power were selected as the preferred bidder to acquire what is said to be an initial stake in the 800 MW floating wind farm.

According to information from last year, the companies then entered into exclusive negotiations with Progression Energy with a view of establishing a special purpose vehicle to continue collectively developing the project.

With the closing of the transaction, the parties said they would now collectively continue to mature the project which is a well-formed early-stage development opportunity at a site that had been identified as ideal for floating wind.

Japan aims to expand offshore wind energy capacity to 10 GW by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), with project areas for floating wind being put to auction for interested companies to submit their proposals.

“We are pleased to join the floating wind ambition in Japan. As an early pioneer in floating wind power, Japan is now positioned to benefit from our access to Principle Power’s field-proven WindFloat® floating offshore technology and our ability to accelerate its deployment at scale with the local partners through industrialization”, said Philippe Kavafyan, Chief Executive Officer of Aker Offshore Wind.

The country’s first auction after enacting the new Renewable Sea Area Utilization Law in April 2019 was launched in June 2020 for the development of a floating offshore wind farm off Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture. A year later, a consortium of six companies led by Toda Corporation was selected to build the 16.8 MW floating wind project.

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