
On December 24, 2024, METI and MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) announced the results of the third offshore wind auction under the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities.
Two areas were auctioned off: one off the Sea of Japan coast on Aomori Prefecture’s southern side and one near Yuza Town, Yamagata Prefecture. The ministries sought to award a 600MW project in the former and a 450MW project in the latter.
The area in Aomori Prefecture was awarded to Tsugaru Offshore Wind consortium consisting of JERA, Green Power Investment, and Tohoku Electric Power, which plans to develop a 615MW project. The area in Yamagata Prefecture was awarded to Yamagata Yuzu Offshore Wind LLC, a consortium comprising of Marubeni, Kansai Electric Power, BP Iota, Tokyo Gas, and Marutaka, which plans to develop a 450MW project.
Both consortia plan to use 15MW Siemens Gamesa turbines, with commissioning targeted for June 2030.
The feed-in-premium (FIP) ceiling price for both areas was 18 yen/kWh, but all bids were submitted at 3 yen/kWh, the price granting maximum points in the price category under the current scoring system.
In the upcoming auction round, METI plans to revise the scoring system to allow companies to better reflect their costs in bid prices and bid higher than 3 yen/kWh without heavily impacting their chances of winning a project. We covered the details of the change in the latest issue of The Japan Power Industry Executive monthly report alongside other changes planned to improve the auction format.