Japan wants to get into wind power, despite headwinds

The eight turbines, whose installation was completed this month near the Goto Islands in the southwest of the archipelago, are due to be commissioned in January, becoming the country's first commercial-scale floating wind project.

This system is better suited to Japanese geology than wind turbines fixed to the seabed, as the water depth increases rapidly: at Goto, the depth reaches 140m five kilometers from the shore.

And "floating structures are relatively stable even in the event of earthquakes or typhoons," which are common in the country, emphasizes Kei Ushigami, head of marine renewable energy for the Toda company at the center of the project.

Japan, which aims to be carbon neutral by 2050, has declared offshore wind power a "major asset" to make renewables its main source of electricity before 2040.

The road is clear, but the path is steep for the archipelago, the world's fifth largest emitter of CO2: poor in resources, it depends heavily on imported fossil fuels.

By 2024, 65% of its electricity needs would be met by coal and hydrocarbon-fired power plants, while only 26,7% would come from renewables, according to the Japanese Renewable Energy Policy Institute.

In its energy plan updated at the beginning of 2025, the government sets the desired contribution from wind power at between 4 and 8% for 2040, compared to 1% today.

Herculean task

But there have been many setbacks: at the end of August, Japanese giant Mitsubishi pulled out of three offshore wind projects due to rising costs.

Other operators have requested support from the Japanese executive, which is considering strengthening its support.

"It is important that the government addresses the shortcomings of the current tendering system, which has failed to anticipate rapid global inflation after contracts have been awarded," said Yoko Mulholland of the E3G think tank.

"Reforming institutional frameworks is crucial to reducing costs," she adds, citing streamlining regulatory processes and easing construction restrictions that "would reduce time and expense."

Hidenori Yonekura of the Japan New Energy and Industrial Technology Organization said the key is to reduce the risk of deviation from forecasts, including through inflation adjustment mechanisms.

He believes that the development of floating wind power, which is still in its infancy, will ultimately reduce costs by installing more turbines in the vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 4,5 million km2 surrounding the archipelago.

The task promises to be Herculean: in order to reach the 2040 target (45 GW of floating wind capacity), up to 3 GW would need to be installed per year, or 200 turbines for 15 MW models, but "the infrastructure is not yet in place" for that, Mr. Yonekura acknowledges.

"Japan does not have any turbine manufacturers or many production sites. Establishing a manufacturing base for wind turbines is crucial for energy security and industrial policy."

Cohabitation with fishing

And builders face technical challenges with these new systems: the discovery of defects in the floating structure of a wind turbine in Goto forced Toda to replace some of them, delaying the project by two years.

Coexistence with fishing is also crucial: Toda explains that he carried out an environmental assessment and noted with a pilot project "the absence of negative impact on fish."

Fishermen receive a portion of the revenue from electricity sales and property taxes from the project. Some have been hired to monitor the construction site with their boats.

According to Takuya Eashiro, head of the Fukue Fishing Cooperative in Goto, the wind project was imposed "from above," presented as "a decision already made."

Nevertheless, "fishermen understand its importance to Japan," he acknowledges.

The National Federation of Fishing Cooperatives also protested to the government after Mitsubishi's withdrawal, recalling that the fishermen had cooperated in these projects in the hope of positive economic benefits.

"With fishing becoming less and less viable, some hope that their children or grandchildren will find jobs in wind turbine maintenance," says Mr. Eashiro.