Northland partners Shizen Energy in Japan offshore wind energy

Northland Power and Shizen Energy have agreed to set up a joint venture to develop offshore wind projects in Japan.

The two companies will focus on developing early stage offshore wind projects in Chiba Prefecture.

Northland Power president and CEO Mike Crawley said: “We are excited to partner on this joint venture with Shizen Energy, which marks Northland’s entry into the burgeoning Japanese offshore wind industry.

“With Shizen Energy’s strong track record of developing and constructing renewable projects in Japan, and Northland’s success developing, constructing and operating offshore wind farms globally, we view this agreement as an excellent opportunity to combine the strengths of the two companies to achieve something great.”
The joint venture (JV) established as part of this initiative, called Chiba Offshore Wind, will serve as the development vehicle for the wind farm projects. The JV will be pursuing projects that have a combined capacity of approximately 600 MW.

Established in 2011, Shizen Energy has developed nearly 1GW of renewable energy projects in Japan and is currently expanding its portfolio with the addition of onshore and offshore wind as well as biomass and hydropower generation projects.

The Japanese company has also started construction works of wind power and solar projects in Vietnam and Thailand.

Shizen Energy representative director Masaya Hasegawa said: “Taking action for the blue planet is our company’s foremost priority, and we hope to pass the blue planet on to the future generations.

“To achieve this goal, we aim to grow as a company and cooperate with other businesses worldwide to shape our common future.

“We strongly believe that our partnership with Northland will allow us to put that vision into action and bring us a step closer to making a positive impact on the future of our blue planet.”