While the Japanese government's target is set low at 0.82 GW by 2030, 13 commercial projects with a total capacity of 1506 MW have currently been awarded to a number of Japanese consortiums according to Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA). The Danish delegation, which comprises of DONG Energy, Rambøll, COWI, EKF, Windpal, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, HjulmandKaptajn, ALL NRG and DAFA, traveled to one of the future locations of offshore wind energy - Kitakyushu in the Fukuoka Prefecture in Western Japan - earlier this week to take a look at the opportunities and meet with local officials.

The Danish delegation also took part in a well-attended seminar on wind energy in Denmark hosted by JWPA and met with two Japanese wind developers - Eco Power Co., Ltd. and Marubeni. The former has five upcoming commercial offshore projects in Akita and Yamagata prefectures and the latter is the. commercial leader of the Akita project with an estimated capacity of 145 MW.

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The challenges to offshore wind in Japan are great and among the obstacles are a limited grid infrastructure, regulatory uncertainties and moderate wind speeds in central and western Japan, which can influence the profitability. Despite this, additional nine Danish wind energy companies (Global Lightning Protection Services, GSI Wind, K2 Management, LM Wind Power Group, Martin Bencher (Scandinavia), Mita-Teknik, Solid Wind Power, Svendborg Brakes, and Vento Energy Support) are visiting Japan this week as part of the Danish Pavillion organised by the Danish Wind Export Association at the Wind Expo fair in Tokyo. 

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The great Danish interest in the offshore ambitions is echoed by the Japanese interest in the Danish know-how and expertise in the offshore wind energy industry and State of Green is currently in talks with JWPA regarding the visit to Denmark from two large Japanese delegations. The first is expected to Denmark in May and the second  will visit later in 2017.