Japanese Cabinet Passes Amendment to Expand Offshore Wind Capability into EEZ

The Japanese Cabinet held a press conference today (12) and passed an amendment to "The Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas," expanding the area for setting up offshore wind to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Leveraging Japan's advantage of being surrounded by seas, the aim is to expand suitable regions for renewable energy and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

According to "The Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas," successful bidders can occupy sea areas within Japan's territorial waters for up to 30 years. Currently, bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines dominate the offshore wind installation areas, while deepwater floating turbines are the mainstream in the EEZ. Considering the popularity of floating structures, the Japanese government is prepared to create a new system allowing operators to install power generation equipment in the EEZ for the long term.

Companies seeking EEZ applications need to go through 2 stages of approval:
(1) Companies submit draft plans for offshore wind power installation areas and implementation, obtaining temporary approval from the government.
(2) Operators and the government engage in social dialogue, convening councils including fishermen and stakeholders. If consensus is reached, the government will issue formal installation permits.

Although Japan ranks only 61st in the world in terms of land area, when including the EEZ and territorial waters, it ranks sixth globally. The Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA) estimates that the spatial potential for offshore wind power in the EEZ will be about 3.5 times that of onshore wind.

Reference: Nikkei