Japan Picks Five Promising Zones for Offshore Wind Farms

Yuka Obayashi
Friday, May 12, 2023

The Japanese government said on Friday it had chosen five sites off the coast of Hokkaido as "promising zones" for developing offshore wind farms, marking the second stage in a three-part selection process. 

The move comes as Japan looks to accelerate the development of renewable power to achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. 

The newly designated promising zones are off Ishikari, Ganu-Minamishiribeshi, Shimamaki, Hiyama and Matsumae on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido.

The five sites were chosen after a government study confirmed they were would have grid connection capability.

The five areas were upgraded from so-called "preparatory zone" which is the first of the three-stage selection process,

after the government defined the appropriate scale of output for the areas and provisionally secured the necessary grid capacity through conducting its own study, instead of having private power companies doing so.

The new study process, known as the "grid security scheme," was introduced last year to help to speed up the development of wind farms, an official at the industry ministry said.

"Promising zone" needs to be upgraded to "promotion zone," which meets all the criteria set by a local law, to become eligible for public auction.

The government will separately announce the result of its annual selection process for windfarm areas in the summer, the ministry official said. This will identify some areas as promotion zones, others as promising and some as preparatory.

Offshore wind is a key driver for Japan's expansion of renewable energy, but the auction process was suspended for nine months last year as the government needed to revise rules after criticism from businesses about the lack of clarity around the bid process following the first major round of auctions. 

The consortiums led by Mitsubishi Corp won all three areas in the first round.

(Reuters -  Reporting by Yuka Obayashi. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Categories: Energy Industry News Offshore Wind Activity Asia Regulations

Related Stories

CIP, ACEN Partner Up for First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm in Philippines

Keyfield Ventures into Indonesia’s Oil and Gas Market with New Partner

Velesto’s Jack-Up Rig Set for Drilling Job off Indonesia

Petronas, Inpex Secure Oil and Gas Exploration Rights off Indonesia

Turkey Discovers New Black Sea Gas Reserve

Indonesia Grants Approval to Kuwaiti Firm for Anambas Block in Natuna Sea

EnQuest Bags Two Production Sharing Contracts off Indonesia

Indonesia Awards Oil and Gas Blocks to Boost Reserves

VARD Snags $125M Shipbuilding Deal for Subsea Construction Vessel

China Unveils Plans for New Offshore Wind Farms to Tackle Carbon Emissions

Current News

China's Sinopec Laucnhes $690M Hydrogen Venture Capital Funds

CIP, ACEN Partner Up for First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm in Philippines

Valeura Concludes Eight-Well Drilling Campaign in Gulf of Thailand

Three Dead in Chevron's Angolan Oil Patform Fire

BW Opal FPSO Vessel set for Work off Australia

Keyfield Ventures into Indonesia’s Oil and Gas Market with New Partner

Fire Contained at Vietnamese Oil Platform Undergoing Decommissioning (Video)

Velesto’s Jack-Up Rig Set for Drilling Job off Indonesia

Petronas, Inpex Secure Oil and Gas Exploration Rights off Indonesia

Mubadala Energy Open to Sell Andaman Gas for Domestic Use

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com