Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co and its partners are considering using smaller turbines and delaying the start of construction at their offshore wind farm project in Niigata in northern Japan, a Mitsui spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The Mitsui-led consortium, which includes Germany's RWE and Osaka Gas, won development rights in 2023 for the 684-megawatt (MW) farm off the coast of Murakami-Tainai, but is facing sharply higher development costs, in line with challenges seen across global offshore wind projects.
It had planned to install 38 turbines in the 18-megawatt (MW) class, but is now looking at 46 turbines in the 15-MW class after GE Vernova scrapped development of the larger model due to rising costs, the spokesperson said.
No decision has yet been made on which manufacturer's turbine will be used, the spokesperson added, and total power generation output would remain largely unchanged.
Because of the turbine switch, offshore construction is expected to be delayed by one year to April 2028, though the consortium still aims to start operations in June 2029, according to the spokesperson.
The revised plan was presented at a consultation meeting held in Niigata on Tuesday.
In August, a Mitsubishi-led consortium withdrew from three offshore wind projects awarded in 2021, citing high costs, prompting the government to step up talks on support measures to sustain industry development.
(Reuters - Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Peter Graff)
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