The Renewables Consulting Group (RCG), a sector specialist advisory firm, continues its expansion into Japan ahead of the country’s expected offshore wind industry growth.
With this in mind, the company has this week appointed Hideto Seto as Associate Director. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the wind energy industry working across a broad range of operational, commercial, and account management roles.
Seto is an expert in wind turbine operation and maintenance (O&M) management, project management, and account relationship building. He provides clients with solutions for wind farm planning, lifetime operation cost optimization, and project management, with experience spanning both project management and O&M execution for international clients, RCG said.
Gareth Lewis, RCG’s Managing Director for the APAC Region said: “With an aggressive near-term target, we continue to see Japan as a major offshore wind growth market. As a result, RCG has responded with the hiring of Hideto Seto, who brings with him a wealth of experience in service operations, account management and project management. With Seto on board - and the fact that we are already providing advisory services for Japanese offshore wind projects – will accelerate further business expansion in Japan’s renewables market."
Last year, the Japanese government announced plans to install as much as 45GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040 with an interim target of 10 GW by 2030. Japan also set new feed-in tariff rates for offshore wind that will result in large-scale offshore wind development at multiple sites during the next decade.
To accommodate the coming demand, RCG said it would over the coming months, significantly expand the Asia Pacific region team to as many as 15 staff, through a combination of local experts, and experienced European offshore wind expatriates, who have either already relocated to Japan, or will do so when travel restrictions are eased.
Related: Japan Plans to Install Up to 45GW of Offshore Wind Power