Offshore Wind Worldwide 2022 edition - Flipbook - Page 120
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Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry (“METI”) and Japan’s Ministry of
Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
(“MLIT”) have held several joint meetings on
the New Act since its enactment. In June
2019, they issued the Guidelines for the
Designation of Promotion Zones (which were
amended in July 2021) and the Guidelines
for Operation of the Occupation Auction
System in Territorial Sea Areas (both
guidelines collectively, the “Guidelines”).
Business operators who intend to submit a
bid in a public offering need to understand
and follow the Guidelines.
B. Operation under the New Act
In the selection of promotion zones, the
following four principles are key:
1.Long-term, stable and efficient
implementation of the energy business;
2.Harmonization of diversified use of ocean
areas and resources (for example,
coordination with incumbent stakeholders
such as those in the fishing and shipping
industries);
3.Implementation of a fair, impartial and
transparent system;
4.Promotion of a well-planned and
sustainable offshore wind power industry
(i.e., creating a supply chain network to
realize a rapid reduction in project costs
and recovery from malfunction or
disaster);
Hogan Lovells
Japan
One of the KPIs under the New Act’s policy
goal is for five promotion zones to be
operational by 2030.
Policy obstacles must be dealt with
appropriately to achieve the New Act’s policy
goal. Examples of such obstacles are the
financial burden on the national government
created by subsidy programs, and
restrictions on regional grid systems.
C. Designating promotion zones
tandards for designating promotion
1. S
zones
Six conditions must be satisfied for an area
to be designated as a promotion zone.
These are as follows:
a)Predictable natural conditions
(including, amongst others, climate and
hydrographic conditions) and
minimum energy output.
b)The promotion zone must be feasible
from a business and safety perspective.
The facility’s long-term usage rate must
be maintained while minimizing the
facility’s operation and maintenance
costs (for example, indicative wind
speed of 7m/s while maintaining a 30%
capacity factor and, for fixedfoundation turbines, water area depth
of less than 30m).
c)The Guidelines refer to projects in the
European market with sizes ranging
between 30MW and 350MW. When the
Japanese government considers which