The Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) has launched a ¥53 billion yen ($509 million) fund for Japan’s wind power industry.
Being the largest investor, DBJ contributed ¥13bn yen to the fund, which it founded with Japan's renewable energy provider Green Power Investment (GPI). There are 10 other institutional investors, including insurers and regional banks.
It is reported that it is the first fund of such a large scale for wind farm investments in Japan. The fund will invest in three wind farms and two solar energy projects owned and managed by GPI with a combined capacity of 220 megawatts.
Each power generation company receives money from the fund in the form of a silent partnership investment. GPI will continue to own and operate the power generation business for at least 20 years and will also act as a manager of the fund. The proceeds from the fund will be used to develop new renewable energy projects, including planned offshore wind farm developments.
I-Ching Tseng of Pinsent Masons, the firm behind Out-Law, said, “The move of the government backed DBJ is an important step to assist developers to secure funding for new projects and accelerate further projects. This is an important step towards achieving Japan's stated goal towards carbon neutrality.”
In December the Japanese government set targets of installing 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power by 2030 and 30-45GW by 2040 as part of plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 that Japan's prime minister Yoshihide Suga announced in October 2020.
