The Anonymous Widower

Japan Expands Offshore Wind Development Into Exclusive Economic Zone

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

The Japanese Government has passed an amendment to the “Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas”, expanding the area for setting up offshore wind to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

These two paragraphs give more details.

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.

The new legislation would allow wind farms to be installed further out to sea from current territorial and internal waters, according to a joint statement by the government, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The Japanese seem to have devised a simple bid process, that gives rights to generate electricity for thirty years.

But then as a Director of Lockheed told me thirty years ago, the Japanese don’t have the same high levels of lawyers that the US, UK and other countries have, so they can move a lot faster and are easier to do business with.

This Wikipedia entry is entitled Wind Power in Japan.

This is the opening paragraph.

In Japan’s electricity sector, wind power generates a small proportion of the country’s electricity. It has been estimated that Japan has the potential for 144 gigawatts (GW) for onshore wind and 608 GW of offshore wind capacity. As of 2020, the country had a total installed capacity of 4.2 GW.

From the potential of 608 GW of offshore wind capacity, it looks like Japan is in a very similar position to the UK and the Japanese can also reap the wind.

March 13, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Business, Energy | Japan, Law, Lockheed Martin, Offshore Wind Power, Wind Power