Japan to assist US in achieving floating wind cost reductions

Japan will seek to help the US in its quest to cut the cost of floating wind projects by becoming the first international collaborator of the US Floating Offshore Wind Shot.

This was announced on Wednesday during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s official visit and state dinner in Washington DC where he met with US President Joe Biden.

“We intend to work together towards global ambition in line with the Wind Shot, taking into consideration national circumstances, through the Clean Energy and Energy Security Initiative (CEESI) to pursue innovative breakthroughs that drive down technology costs, accelerate decarbonization, and deliver benefits for coastal communities,” reads a statement released by The White House.

The US also welcomed the launch of Japan’s Floating Offshore Wind Technology Research Association (FLOWRA), the goal of which is to reduce costs and achieve mass production of floating offshore wind through collaboration with academia.

Announced in September 2022, the Floating Offshore Wind Shot is led by the Departments of Energy (DOE), Interior (DOI), Commerce, and Transportation. The objective of this initiative is to reduce the cost of floating offshore wind energy by more than 70%, to USD 45 (EUR 42) per MWh by 2035 for deep water sites far from shore.

The US government targets deploying 15 GW of floating wind by 2035.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.931)

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