Japan picks winner for first floating offshore wind tender

Japan has selected a consortium led by Toda Corporation to develop a 16.8MW floating offshore wind farm off Nagasaki. It is due to be the country’s largest offshore wind farm to date.

The Goto City Offshore Wind Power Generation LLC — which also includes Eneos Corporation, Osaka Gas Company, Kansai Electric Power Corporation, Inpex Company and Chubu Electric Power Corporation — was the only bidder.

Its project will consist of eight 2.1MW turbines to be built in a 2.7km² area off Goto City, south-eastern Japan according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).

The government launched the tender for the Goto project in June last year and closed it in December.

Japan is also holding two further offshore wind auctions in Akita, in the north-east of Japan’s main island of Honshu, and one in Chiba, near Tokyo. Results are due later in the year, according to the Japanese Wind Power Association (JWPA).

Japan aims to install between 30GW and 45GW of offshore wind by 2040 as the country aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.