Japan’s Sumimoto Corporation and JGC Japan Corporation have signed an agreement to investigate the possibility of collaboration in the detailed design, manufacture, and delivery of structural components for floating offshore wind turbines.
According to the companies, they aim to cut costs, improve efficiency, and mass-produce structures for floating wind farms, while also setting up a supply chain ahead of the development of commercial-scale floating wind farms in Japanese waters.
Under the agreement signed on 26 July, the two firms will examine the possibility of collaboration in the following areas: detailed design of floater components based on floating foundation design; development of steel and shipbuilding manufacturers as partners in the manufacture of floater components, order placement and manufacturing management; and transportation of components to base ports for offshore wind power generation.
JGC Group established a department dedicated to offshore wind in 2018. Last year, JGC Japan, a group company of JGC Holding Corporation, signed a non-exclusive collaborative agreement with Marine Power Systems (MPS) to deliver floating offshore wind platforms at a commercial scale in Japan.
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When it comes to Sumitomo Corporation, the company is an active investor in the offshore wind market and has invested in a Dutch company that owns heavy lift vessels and a Norwegian firm that owns and operates vessels that transport engineers and equipment to wind turbines under construction.
Sumitomo Corporation is also a member of a consortium involved in an offshore wind project off the coast of Enoshima Island in Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture, and is in discussion with Oshima Shipbuilding to utilise its shipbuilding facilities and technology for the manufacture of floating structures.