Japan’s power generation company JERA has submitted a primary environmental impact consideration document for a new offshore wind project to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI).
The document, which is the first of four phases required by the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, summarises the results of deliberations concerning environmental conservation issues to be considered at the planning stage, a statement said.
The project will be built over a 120 square kilometre area located off the coast of Tsugaru and Ajigasawa. It will have 63 wind turbines with a generation capacity of 600 megawatts (MW). It is expected to be completed in three years' time.
JERA said that “the favourable wind conditions and shallow seabed off Tsugaru and Ajigasawa” make the area suitable for the development of bottom fixed offshore wind power generation.
The public review for the document will be closed on 8 April.
I-Ching Tseng of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, said: “The interest of JERA and other developers in wind projects is an encouraging sign. Japan must ensure that the right infrastructure and policies are in place to maintain these interests and growth in wind and other renewable energy projects.”
Last August JERA submitted a Planning Phase Environmental Impact Statement for a 520MW offshore wind project in Ishikari Bay, off Hokkaido.
It is reported that JERA also has plans for the waters off Akita Prefecture that are offered in Japan's first ever auction for bottom-fixed offshore wind projects.
In December the Japanese government set targets of installing 10 gigawatts 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.
