Marco Polo Marine, a Singapore-listed offshore vessel company, is looking to enter the Japanese offshore wind market and has signed a memorandum of understanding with "K" Line Wind Service in that regard.
Both parties, according to Marco Polo Marine, want to own and run suitable offshore support vessels that will serve customers in the Japanese offshore wind sector.
The agreement marks Marco Polo Marine’s entry into another offshore wind market in Asia, in addition to Taiwan, which it entered by acquiring PKR Offshore, an established Taiwan-based wind vessel operator, in May this year.
Marco Polo Marine also commissioned the development of a new Commissioning Service Operation Vessel (CSOV) at its Batam shipyard in early September to expand its service offerings to support the offshore wind farm sector.
"K" Line Wind Service was set up in June 2021 as a joint venture between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” Line) and Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. for the purpose of providing marine related services for offshore wind power business.
“As Japan unlocks the potential of its offshore wind as a reliable source of energy, we believe the market can become a key revenue-driver for Marco Polo Marine. With KWS as our strategic partner, we intend to pool together our expertise in vessel management and leverage on their deep knowledge of the Japanese market to support the pipeline of offshore wind projects in the region,” said Sean Lee, CEO of Marco Polo Marine.
Marco Polo Marine has cited the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), according to which Japan has around 128 GW of fixed-bottom offshore wind potential and 424 GW of floating offshore wind potential.
The Japanese government has set a target to achieve 10 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040.