Mitsui, Hokutaku set up offshore wind inspection and maintenance joint venture

Mitsui and Hokutaku have established Horizon Ocean Management (HOM), a joint venture company providing inspection and maintenance services to the offshore wind sector.

The new company brings together wind turbine maintenance expertise developed by Hokutaku and the Mitsui Group, and Mitsui’s customer base in Japan, with an aim to provide Japanese offshore wind companies with comprehensive inspection and maintenance services for offshore wind turbines and foundation structures.

HOM will also provide other business operations, including agency services for quality control and inspections relating to the procurement of offshore wind power equipment.

“We see the establishment of HOM as a step toward the realization of an eco-friendly society through contribution to the offshore wind power industry”, Mitsui stated in a press release on 14 April.

Japan’s installed offshore wind capacity currently stands at around 70 MW but is set on a strategy to decarbonise its energy mix and promote energy independence. The market is scheduled to reach 30-45 GW offshore wind installed by 2040, according to the Government-Industry Dialogue Council for Offshore Energy.

The country’s offshore wind ambitions have attracted several foreign developers to join in on reaching the target. One of the latest to enter the Japanese offshore wind market is Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola, which announced this March that it signed an agreement with Japan’s Cosmo Eco Power and the engineering firm Hitz to jointly develop a 600 MW project in Aomori prefecture.

“By establishing a facility inspection and maintenance service, Mitsui aims to meet the demand for preventative maintenance, which is increasing in line with the growth in the number of wind power facilities, and to address the growing need for services to extend equipment life spans”, the company said.