Joint development agreement with oil firm ENEOS to kickstart commercialisation [Image: BW Ideol ]
BW Ideol has signed a joint development agreement with ENEOS Corporation to develop a site-specific commercial-scale floating offshore wind farm off Japan based on the Norwegian developer’s patented Damping Pool technology.
It is hoped that BW Ideol’s collaboration with the Japanese oil company will contribute to the early commercialisation of cost-competitive floating offshore wind power in the country.
BW Ideol is a global leader in floating offshore wind with a fast-growing pipeline of commercial-scale projects across the globe.
It is the only floating technology provider with two full-scale assets in operation in two strategic and pioneering markets for floating wind (France and Japan).
BW Ideol chief executive Paul De La Guérivière said: “We are very honoured to team up with a leading player such as ENEOS.
“This collaboration confirms once again that our two-leg strategy of providing a proven technology and investing in the co-development of a project is extremely relevant in the context of a fast-accelerating new industry.
“We are pleased to keep on building a multi-GW project portfolio in Japan and add this project to our existing agreements for commercial-scale projects with other leading Japanese developers and utilities, confirming our unique position in this strategic market.”
Japan’s offshore wind projects are currently being developed under the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities.
It is estimated that the potential of floating offshore wind turbines is three times greater than that of fixed bottom offshore wind as waters around Japan tend to quickly become very deep a few km from shore.
Floating offshore wind has the potential to substantially contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and reducing the cost of energy transition.
ENEOS’ renewable energy business is central to the group strategy and it has participated in an offshore wind project off the coast of Taiwan in April 2019.
In September 2020, ENEOS participated in the development of projects off the coast of Happo Town and Noshiro City in Akita Prefecture.
In addition, in June 2021, ENEOS was selected as the operator of a floating offshore wind power generation project off the coast of Goto City in Nagasaki Prefecture.
