Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has designated three new areas as offshore wind preparation zones.
The three areas that were designated as preparation areas are Akita City, Akita Prefecture, East Side of Wakayama Prefecture, and West Side of Wakayama Prefecture (floating wind).
These regions have been identified as preparation zones for establishing promotion areas under the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities.
A promising zone is a region where the government should hold specific discussions through a council to determine whether to designate it as a promotion zone, based on the information gathered about the area, according to METI.
The Japanese government aims to deploy 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040, including floating wind, as part of its target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
In 2023, the country had 153.5 MW of installed offshore wind capacity, not including semi-offshore wind farms accessible from coastal areas.
At the beginning of 2024, Japan’s METI and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism launched a tender for an offshore wind site in the Sea of Japan, off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, and a site off the coast of the town of Yuza in Yamagata Prefecture.
The developers of the two project sites will be selected by December this year.