Kansai Electric Power and
RWE Renewables have signed an agreement to jointly study the feasibility of a large-scale floating offshore wind project off the Japanese coast.
Sven Utermöhlen, RWE Renewables’ COO (Wind Offshore Global), said: “We see great potential for floating wind farms worldwide, but especially in countries with deeper coastal waters, like Japan.
“Floating wind could help to raise untapped potential off the Japanese coast.
“As one of the world’s leading offshore companies, RWE is already progressing innovation in the growing floating wind sector. With Kansai EPCO we have a partner whose local expertise complements our global experience and technical know-how.”
Nozomu Mori, Kansai EPCO’s executive vice president, said: “As a leading company of zero-carbon energy, we have declared that Kansai Electric Power Group is aiming for carbon neutrality throughout the entirety of its business activities, including power generation, by 2050. We believe that development of floating offshore wind farms will be the key to achieve this.”
The companies say this partnership represents a strong combination of expertise in offshore wind. RWE has a world-class track record along the entire offshore wind value chain — from development, construction and production, to route to market.
In addition, the company is currently working on three floating demonstration projects in Norway, Spain and the USA, to test different concepts for floating foundations. In Japan, RWE is also studying the feasibility of bottom-fixed offshore wind projects in various regions, including Akita and Niigata prefectures.
Meanwhile, Kansai EPCO is studying ways to maximise the introduction of renewable energy sources and ‘propel them into mainstream power sources’. The company is working to develop more than 2GW of new renewable energy sources, with the goal of increasing its installed capacity of 6GW in Japan and overseas by the 2030s.