The renewable power unit of Japan’s biggest utility plans to spend more than 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) over the next 10 years to boost its green generation by as much as 70%. The push by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. comes as the nation’s institutions are under increasing pressure to curb support for coal, both at home and abroad, and as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government seeks to bolster the role of clean power.
The clean energy spending plans are among the most ambitious from Japanese utilities that lag global peers in shifting away from fossil fuels. Despite being home to numerous engineering firms that export power generation infrastructure, Japan doesn’t yet have a commercial offshore wind farm and will need to lean on other countries’ expertise to build out capacity.
Tepco in March established a joint venture with Danish wind developer Orsted A/S to build a project off the coast of the Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo. Jera Co., a joint venture between Tepco and Chubu Electric Power Co., said in December 2018 it was buying stakes in wind projects in the U.K. and Taiwan that would help it in future ventures in Japan and overseas. Tepco lost 0.3% to 384 yen a share at 11:05 a.m. in Tokyo. The benchmark Topix index slipped 0.3%.
Feed-in tariffs for Japan offshore wind projects will be set at auctions that have yet to be scheduled. Still, Fubasami said he expects the domestic farms to be the “most profitable” among the unit’s clean power ventures. The company aims to develop as much as 3-gigawatts of domestic offshore wind capacity in the next decade.