JERA-led Oga Katagami Akita Offshore Green Energy said it paid the final deposit for the offshore wind project it was awarded in Japan’s second offshore wind auction on December 12, 2025. Mitsui & Co.- and Sumitomo Corporation-led consortia have also reached the same milestone, The Nikkei reported.
Developers that win METI- and MLIT-ran offshore wind auctions must pay deposits in three stages, including at the time of bidding, at the time of selection, and within two years of award. The three consortia were awarded their projects on December 13, 2023. A fourth consortium from Round 2, led by ENEOS Renewable Energy, was selected on March 22, 2024, and therefore has not yet been required to complete the payment.
The JERA Nex bp Japan, J-POWER, Tohoku Electric Power, and Itochu consortium, which is developing a 315MW project off the coast of Akita Prefecture expected to be commissioned in June 2028, is estimated to have paid approximately 4.1 billion yen in total.
Mitsui, RWE, and Osaka Gas’ special purpose company Murakami Tainai Offshore Wind won the round’s largest project and is expected to have paid approximately 8.9 billion yen across the three deposits. It plans to commission the 684MW power plant in Niigata Prefecture in June 2029.
Sumitomo and TEPCO Renewable Power’s joint venture Mirai Enoshima was selected to build a 420MW project off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture’s Saikai City, which it plans to bring online in August 2029. It is estimated to have paid approximately 5.5 billion yen in deposits.
The fourth consortium, consisting of ENEOS Renewable Energy, Iberdola Renewables, and Tohoku Electric Power, was awarded a 375MW project off the coast of Happo Town and Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture. It plans to commission the wind farm in June 2029 and will be required to pay the remainder of its deposit, estimated to be about 4.9 billion yen in total, by March 21, 2026.
The consortia led by JERA, Sumitomo, and ENEOS Renewable Energy have submitted draft environmental impact assessment reports for their projects. The Mitsui-led consortium is at the previous, methodology stage of the process.
Full deposit payments mark a key step for Japan’s offshore wind sector following the withdrawal of Mitsubishi-led consortia from first-round awards. With METI considering the completion of the remaining awarded projects critical to the industry’s health, it has devised measures to improve their economics, such as allowing Round 2 and 3 projects to participate in the long-term decarbonization auction (covered in The Japan Power Industry Executive December 2025 issue).
