Looking back at March activities: Wind Expo Tokyo & energy transition trade mission
Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Since 2012, Holland Home of Wind Energy (HHWE) participated in almost every Wind Expo Tokyo edition there was (since 2020 twice a year, in both March and August/September), and this time was no exception. With more participating companies than ever and having the energy transition trade mission led by Minister Liesje Schreinemacher in the same week, this was by far the most successful edition!

The Netherlands Lounge was completely sold out with 18 participating companies, consisting of recurring and new companies:

  1. AkzoNobel Coatings
  2. Ampelmann Operations
  3. Brunel
  4. CAPE Holland
  5. Damen Shipyards
  6. Deltares
  7. Dyneema
  8. FibreMax
  9. GustoMSC – NOV
  10. IX Wind
  11. Jumbo Sal Alliance
  12. Mammoet
  13. Royal IHC
  14. SMST
  15. TNO
  16. TWD
  17. VDL Klima
  18. WIND Cable Services

Although the Wind Expo takes place twice a year, the March edition is by far the most important platform for renewable energy, among other wind energy, in Japan. With over 65,196 visitors and 1,239 exhibitors during the whole World Smart Energy Week (of which the Wind Expo Tokyo is part), this edition was again an immense success and created the platform for our co-exhibitors to expand their network and create new partnerships with Japanese stakeholders. For the complete list of exhibitors, please see here.

Energy transition trade mission with Minister Liesje Schreinemacher

This edition of the Wind Expo coincided with the trade mission energy transition led by the Netherlands’ Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Liesje Schreinemacher and Ingrid Thijssen, President of VNO-NCW. This mission took partly place in Korea (13 – 15 March) and partly in Japan (16 & 17 March). Companies active in the offshore wind, hydrogen, and batter technology sectors met their Japanese counterparts to build relationships with new and existing partners. Watch the aftermovie here.

Potential of offshore wind in Japan

The Japanese government aims to deploy 6GW of offshore wind capacity by the end of 2025 and 30-45GW by 2040, including floating wind, as part of its target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. In 2021 the government of Japan tendered three projects of in total 1.7 GW of bottom-fixed wind. Mitsubishi Corporation Energy Solutions, was the sole winner of all projects and selected Kajima and Van Oord as the preferred BoP contractors for these three projects. The one floating wind project (16.8 MW) was awarded to the sole bidder, the Japanese Goto Floating Wind Farm consortium In Round 2 a further 1.2 GW is open to auction. It’s important to note that Japan’s offshore wind market is developing slowly, but surely. In the upcoming round a deadline for operation is included in the tender itself. Offshore construction for commercial scale projects is expected to begin 6-8 years after the auction award date. This means that approximately 6.6 GW of tender projects are expected to begin offshore construction by 2030. With a higher target set for 2040, it is expected that offshore wind (including floating) measures will be accelerated in the 2030s.

Upcoming events in Japan

HHWE, together with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Dutch Embassy in Tokyo, is currently working on a ‘Strategische Meerjarige Marktbewerking’ (SMM) program. The main objective of the SMM is to realize a large volume of service agreements and export orders for the Dutch offshore wind sector in Japan. Key message of this SMM to Japanese stakeholders is that the Dutch are willing to support Japan in building-up the local supply chain and contribute to reaching
the renewable energy goals set by the government. This SMM will be aimed on bottom-fixed and floating offshore wind.

In the framework of the multi-annual strategy for the upcoming years, we will at least participate in the Wind Expo Tokyo every year in March. However, we are currently checking with the Dutch sector if participation in the September edition is desirable. For more information, please see here. If you are interested in events in Japan, please let us know via events@hhwe.eu and we will keep you updated.