Energy | Japan starts to seek bidders for first floating wind farm auction

Japan officially launched its effort to seek participants in the nation’s first auction for a floating offshore wind farm.
The nation’s economy and land ministries will select the winner of the auction around June 2021 to construct the floating turbines off the southern prefecture of Nagasaki, according to a joint statement yesterday. The deadline for bidding in the auction is Dec. 24.
Winning bidders will be chosen after consulting with experts on the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed business plans, according to a spokesman of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The capacity of the floating farm must be a minimum of 16.8 megawatts. The feed-in tariff for the farm is set at 36 yen ($0.34) per kilowatt hour.
The auction will be the first under Japan’s offshore wind promotion law, which took effect April 1, 2019, as the nation aims to achieve the target of boosting renewable energy to 24% of its total power generation by 2030, from about 17% in 2019.
Developing affordable floating offshore wind technology is seen as key to meeting those goals, as available land is scarce and Japan doesn’t have the shallow coastal areas that have allowed traditional offshore turbines to prosper in places like Denmark and the U.K.
BloombergNEF expects Toda Corp. to win the auction as the company is already planning to develop a 22-megawatt floating project in the same location, and the tender process gives preference to existing developers with good community ties and offshore wind experience, according to analyst Isshu Kikuma. Bloomberg