Tokyo Governor Announces Plans to Develop Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm Off Izu Coast at COP29

By Yoichiro Tanaka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

7:00 JST, November 15, 2024

BAKU — The Tokyo metropolitan government is planning to develop a large-scale offshore wind farm off the coast of the Izu Islands, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike announced Wednesday at the United Nations’ annual climate change conference, or COP29, currently being held in Azerbaijan.

The envisioned farm would have a capacity of 1 gigawatt, equivalent to that of a nuclear power plant. If completed, it would be the nation’s largest wind power generation facility.

According to the metropolitan government, floating turbines would be anchored to the sea surface. These turbines would be expected to meet the annual consumption of 900,000 households, but the completion date is yet to be determined.

In September 2023, the metropolitan government heard its expert panel’s opinion that, “the sea area of the Izu Islands, where winds of more than 32.4 kph blow, is suitable for offshore wind power generation.” Tokyo then proceeded with talks with the two towns and six villages of the Izu Islands about the location of the wind farm.

Japan has set a target of expanding its offshore wind capacity to over 5.7 gigawatts by fiscal 2030. However, the current total power output in five prefectures, including Hokkaido and Akita prefectures, is 0.26 gigawatts.

The national government is responsible by law for leading the development of an offshore wind farm whose capacity is 300,000 kilowatts or more, and Tokyo will request that the government develop the facility after selecting its installation site based on ecosystem surveys and hearings from the fishing industry.

“A floating offshore wind power project is a huge challenge,” Koike told reporters after the COP29 meeting. “We will carry out a number of verifications and move as quickly as possible.”