BP entering Japanese offshore wind market

BP has entered into an agreement with Marubeni to form a strategic partnership for offshore wind and potentially other decarbonisation projects, including hydrogen, in Japan. The new partnership will see BP acquiring a stake in Marubeni’s proposed offshore wind project in the country.

Under the agreement, BP will join with Marubeni on a proposed offshore wind project by purchasing a 49 per cent stake. In connection with the agreement, the oil and gas major will also establish a local offshore wind development team in Tokyo.

The companies see teaming up on the offshore wind project as a first step towards building a market-leading offshore wind position in Japan, according to a press release issued by BP on 23 March.

“We are unlocking new regions and new opportunities for bp. Combining our international energy expertise and technical capabilities with Marubeni’s track record of wind and energy development and first-class regional relationships, we can together build important new clean energy resources for Japan and Asia”, said Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, BP’s executive vice president of gas & low carbon energy.

The oil and gas company, which has offshore wind projects in the UK and the US, wants to continue to build on its offshore wind portfolio, according to Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath.

BP already has a net offshore wind development pipeline of more than 5 GW, with the 2.5 GW Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1 projects in the US and the Morgan and Mona projects in the UK that could have up to 3 GW of installed capacity.

The company has also joined the consortium between Statkraft and Aker Offshore Wind which is preparing a bid for the offshore wind auction in Norway.

Both BP and Marubeni have also won development rights in the recently closed ScotWind leasing round in Scotland, BP in partnership with EnBW and Marubeni in a consortium with SSE Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

Marubeni has been involved in several projects worldwide and is leading the consortium behind the offshore wind farms off Akita Port and Noshiro Port in Akita Prefecture, Japan, which are currently under construction.

The Japanese conglomerate is also participating in two floating offshore wind demonstration projects in its home country.

In November last year, Marubeni also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Scotland’s national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, to jointly explore opportunities in floating offshore wind and green hydrogen.

Japan is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050 and has set a target of deploying 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040.