Iberdrola Raises Bet on Japanese Offshore Wind Market

(Bloomberg) -- Iberdrola SA added to its growing portfolio of global offshore wind projects with its latest acquisition off the coast of Japan.

The Spanish utility will develop the 600-megawatt Seihoku-oki wind farm with Japanese developer Cosmo Eco Power Co Ltd and Hitz engineering, the company said in a statement. It grows Iberdrola’s overall pipeline in Japan to 3.9 gigawatts, part of its strategy to become the world’s largest renewable power company.

The wind farm off the coast of Aomori prefecture in northern Japan is currently under development and will enter a capacity auction planned by the Japanese government to take place by 2022. A representative for Iberdrola declined to disclose the financial details of the deal.

Japan is looking to rapidly scale up its offshore wind industry from almost nothing today to 10 gigawatts by 2030 and 45 gigawatts in 2040.

Iberdrola wants to lock in its position as a major player in the country. Last year it bought into a 3.3 gigawatt portfolio of Japanese offshore wind farms that Macquarie Group Ltd.’s Green Investment Group has been developing.

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