Japan's First Utility-scale Offshore Wind Farm Starts Commercial Operations

Marubeni said Thursday it had started commercial operation at the Noshiro Port offshore wind farm in Japan on December 22, 2022, based on the feed-in tariff program for renewable energy.

Marubeni Corporation has been implementing this first utility-scale offshore wind power project in Japan at Akita Port and Noshiro Port in Akita Prefecture, through the Akita Offshore Wind Corporation (AOW), jointly owned with Obayashi Corporation, Tohoku Electric Power, Cosmo Eco Power, the Kansai Electric Power, Chubu Electric Power, The Akita Bank,Ohmori, Sawakigumi Corporation, Kyowa Oil, Katokensetsu, Kanpu, and Sankyo.

AOW plans to operate and maintain the offshore wind farms for 20 years, with its base located at Noshiro Port.

According to Marubeni, since the start of construction of the wind farm in February 2020, installation of a total of 33 wind turbines at Akita Port and Noshiro Port was completed in September 2022, and commercial operation has been achieved almost on the original schedule.

The bottom-fixed offshore wind farm features 33 V117-4.2 MW wind turbines.

Eneti's offshore installation services firm, Seajacks International, recently completed the installation of all 33 wind turbines.

The self-propelled jack up vessel, Seajacks Zaratan, carried out the work in collaboration with main installation contractor Kajima Corporation and turbine supplier Vestas Japan Co., Ltd.

The 140MW project will power approximately 150,000 homes and mitigate over two million tons of GHG emissions over its expected useful life.

Japan has plans to install up to 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040.