Japan Looks at 2020 As Big Year for Wind Power

By 2040, offshore wind power alone has the potential to meet Japan’s total power demand by over nine fold and the world’s total electricity demand by eleven fold. The technology could become the world’s mainstay power supply, the IEA says, contingent on one thing: the further development of floating turbines, the International Energy Agency said in a report.

2020 will be an inflection point in the nation’s full-scale development of offshore wind after a new law took effect in April 2019 allowing offshore turbines to operate for up to 30 years. Previously, most prefectures could only give permits lasting up to five years, making it difficult for developers to invest in major projects.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, there’s ample room to expand offshore wind and a total of 13 gigawatts worth of projects are in the pipeline. Those projects are undergoing environmental assessments, which may take up to five years, but they could be up and running by 2030 given a construction period of two years, said Yoshinori Ueda, a Japan Wind Energy Association board member.