Japan's top power generator JERA has begun construction of its offshore wind project in Akita, northern Japan, and is on schedule for a 2028 start-up, President Hisahide Okuda said on Wednesday…
Japan's top power generator JERA has begun construction of its offshore wind project in Akita, northern Japan, and is on schedule for a 2028 start-up, President Hisahide Okuda said on Wednesday.
The move comes despite soaring material and construction costs, and last year's withdrawal by a Mitsubishi Corp-led group from three offshore wind projects awarded in 2021.
JERA won a government auction in 2023 to develop the 315-megawatt Oga-Katagami-Akita offshore wind farm with Electric Power Development, Itochu and Tohoku Electric Power. In 2024, a consortium of JERA, Green Power Investment and Tohoku Electric also secured a 615-MW project off Aomori prefecture in northern Japan.
"Costs have truly risen, creating a challenging environment, but rather than giving up, we aim to demonstrate that offshore wind power is feasible in Japan and that it can be a viable business – by successfully completing projects in both Akita and Aomori," Okuda told a news conference.
The first JERA-led consortium has signed a contract to procure turbines from Vestas for the Akita project, with Kajima handling turbine foundation work, Okuda said.
Earlier this month, JERA, Japan's largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, signed a deal with QatarEnergy, one of the world's biggest LNG suppliers, to
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