BW Ideol has signed a joint development agreement with ENEOS Corp. to develop a site-specific commercial-scale floating offshore wind farm off Japan based on BW Ideol’s patented Damping Pool technology.
ENEOS’ renewable energy business includes the development of solar (18 sites, approx. 46 MW), wind (two sites, approx. 4 MW) and biomass power plants (one site, approx. 68 MW) across Japan.
In the offshore wind power business, ENEOS participated in a project off the coast of Taiwan in April 2019, and in September 2020, ENEOS participated in the development of projects off the coast of Happo Town and Noshiro City in Akita Prefecture. In addition, in June 2021, ENEOS was selected as the operator of a floating offshore wind power generation project off the coast of Goto City in Nagasaki Prefecture.
“We are very honored to team up with a leading player such as ENEOS,” says Paul De La Guérivière, CEO of BW Ideol. “Our two-leg strategy of providing a proven technology and investing in the co-development of a project is extremely relevant in the context of a fast-accelerating new industry.”
Japan’s offshore wind projects are currently being developed under the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities, and it is said that the potential of floating offshore wind turbines is three times greater than that of fixed-bottom offshore wind, as waters around Japan tend to quickly become very deep a few kilometers from shore.
BW Ideol says it is the only floating technology provider with two full-scale assets in operation in two markets (France and Japan).
