The Diplomat
Iberdrola announced yesterday that it has formed a partnership with Japanese renewable energy developer Cosmo Eco Power, a subsidiary of Cosmo Energy Holdings, and engineering firm Hitz to develop a new 600 megawatt (MW) offshore wind project in Japan.
The project, called ‘Seihoku-oki’ and located in Aomori Prefecture, in the northwest of the country, is already under development and will participate in round 2 of the auction planned by the Japanese government between this year and 2022, according to Europa Press.
Following the transaction – subject to the usual approvals for this type of operation – the project will be led by Iberdrola and Cosmo Eco Power, with similar voting rights, together with Hitz.
With this transaction, the group chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán accelerates its presence in Japan, a country where it entered six months ago with the acquisition of 100% of the Japanese developer Acacia Renewables, with a 3,300 MW offshore wind portfolio in the south of the country.
Acacia Renewables has two offshore wind farms under development, with a combined capacity of 1,200 MW, which could be operational by 2028. In addition, it has four other projects in the pipeline, with a total capacity of 2,100 MW. These six projects will be developed by Iberdrola together with Macquarie*s Green Investment Group (GIG).
With these operations, the energy company will compete in rounds 2, 3 and 4 – the last two scheduled for 2023/2024 – of the auctions announced by the Japanese government, positioning itself in the initial development stages in a market with great growth potential.
Japan’s installed offshore wind capacity currently stands at around 70 MW, but the country has deployed a strategy to decarbonise its energy mix and promote energy independence.
