Ørsted, Tepco Join Forces for Japan Offshore Push

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Danish energy business Orsted to work together on offshore wind projects.

In a press release, TEPCO said that it had been “exploring offshore wind business opportunities” in both Japan and overseas. Orsted is a world leader in wind energy and built the world’s first offshore wind facility in 1991. Ørsted has constructed more than 25 offshore wind farms in Europe and has several large-scale offshore wind development projects in Europe, the US and Taiwan.

TEPCO and Ørsted will work jointly on the Choshi offshore wind project near Tokyo, for which TEPCO has been carrying out a seabed survey to examine its feasibility (announced on November 1, 2018) and towards a strategic partnership for broader collaboration.

“TEPCO Representative Executive Officer and President, Tomoaki Kobayakawa, said: “We are confident that the partnership combining TEPCO’s extensive expertise in the Japanese power business and Ørsted’s unparalleled track record in the offshore wind business will lead to success in the Choshi project. We hope that this first step paves the way for expansion beyond the coastlines of Japan for the development, construction, operation and ownership of offshore wind projects.”

“TEPCO is aiming to make renewable energy a core generating source by developing 6 to 7 GW of renewable energy projects in Japan and overseas. The partnership with Ørsted will provide us with a very strong platform to scale up our renewable energy business as one of our main pillars of business growth.”

Ørsted CEO and President, Henrik Poulsen, remarked: “Our vision is to create a world that runs entirely on green energy, and we look forward to expanding our presence in the Asia-Pacific region and bringing over two decades of offshore wind knowledge into this partnership for the Choshi project.”

“As the largest player in the Japanese electricity industry, TEPCO has deep insights into the local power market and the regulatory requirements. This MOU is the first step in Ørsted and TEPCO’s aspirations to deliver on Japan’s ambitions for domestic renewable power generation at a large scale and contribute to making Japan a leading offshore wind market in the Asia-Pacific. We welcome this first opportunity to work with TEPCO and look forward to strengthening our relationship further.”