Monthly Report

Sumitomo and TEPCO Renewable Power’s Kyushu offshore wind project JV officially launches operations

July 30, 2024
Vestas Wind Turbine
Miraienoshima’s project will see 28 Vestas turbines installed off the coast of Kyushu. (Image: Vestas)

Miraienoshima LLC, a joint venture between Sumitomo Corporation and TEPCO Renewable Power tasked with developing a 420 MW offshore wind project off the coast of Saikai City, Nagasaki Prefecture, held a ceremony on July 29, 2024, to officially launch operations.

Miraienoshima Consortium, which was incorporated into Miraienoshima LLC in March 2024, was awarded the project in Japan’s second offshore wind auction round held in 2023 with a feed-in-premium price of 22.18 yen per kWh. The project, Kyushu’s largest, will consist of 28 1.5 MW Vestas turbines. It is expected to commission in August 2029.

Currently, seabed and environmental surveys are being conducted, with construction expected to start in January 2025.

“We discussed how local businesses can get involved [in the project] and how [the project] can coexist and prosper with the fishing industry, so I hope that [the project] will revitalize the city’s industry,” said the Mayor of Saikai City, Yasuhiko Sugizawa.

The project off the coast of Saikai City is the first offshore wind project awarded through an auction under the Sea Areas Utilization for Renewable Energy Act. Two other projects, one in Akita Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture each, were awarded to consortia led by JERA andMitsui & Co. respectively in the second auction round.

In the auction’s first round, three consortia, all led by Mitsubishi Corporation, were awarded two projects in Akita Prefecture and one in Chiba Prefecture. The third auction round’s bidding closed earlier this month.

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