Japan's government has approved a draft amendment to existing legislation that will allow for the installation of offshore wind power in exclusive economic zones (EEZ), a milestone towards the country's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Japan aims to have 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power projects by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040, to replace fossil fuels including coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in its energy mix — for which floating offshore wind is essential.
The new legislation for which the draft was approved Tuesday would allow wind farms to be installed further out to sea from current territorial and internal waters, the government, including the ministry of economy, trade and industry (METI) and the ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, said in a statement.