Japan Agrees to Facilitate $12B Investment in UK Offshore Wind

The United Kingdom could receive up to GBP 9 billion ($12.08 billion) in investment facilitated by the Japanese government for offshore wind projects.  

The Offshore Wind Compact was among several partnerships launched by the G7 partners during Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's visit to Downing Street over the weekend.

The wind investment will support the development of 5.9 gigawatts (GW) of floating facilities in which Japanese companies own a stake. These include the Ossian and Green Volt projects off Scotland's east coast and the Erebus project in the Celtic Sea, according to an online statement by Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office.

"By boosting homegrown clean energy, the deal will help reduce reliance on volatile global fossil fuel markets, strengthen energy security, help get bills down for good, and makes the UK Japan’s leading clean energy partner in Europe", Downing Street said.

Ossian has a planned capacity of 3.6 GW, which represents an avoidance of up to 7.5 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of carbon emissions, according to the project consortium. The project is owned by Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the UK's SSE PLC and Japan's Marubeni Corp.

Ossian is planned to rise about 84 kilometers (52.2 miles) off Scotland's east coast in waters 72 meters (236.22 feet) deep, according to the joint venture. It is in the study and planning stage.

Targeted to be commissioned 2029, Green Volt will enable up to 560 megawatts (MW), or 1.5 terawatt hours a year. That capacity is enough to save 1 MMtpa of carbon dioxide, according to the project consortium. Green Volt is owned by Flotation Energy Ltd, a Scotland-based subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Co, and Vårgrønn AS, a joint venture of Italy's state-backed Eni SpA and Norway's HitecVision AS.

Green Volt would be located 80 kilometers from Scotland's east coast, according to the project consortium. It already has onshore and offshore consent and in September 2024 received a contract for difference from the UK government.

Meanwhile the demonstration project Erebus is designed to produce 100 MW, able to reduce carbon emissions by about 150,000 metric tons per year, according to the project consortium. It is owned by Blue Gem Wind Ltd, a joint venture of Ireland-based Simply Blue Energy and France's TotalEnergies SE. Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co recently acquired a stake in Simply Blue Energy.

Erebus plans to launch construction 2026-27.

In other energy-related investments agreed during the meeting, power solutions company Hitachi Energy ltd committed GBP 18 million to "a purpose-built facility" in Stafford, Downing Street said.

"Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce will deepen collaboration with Japan’s Atomic Energy Agency, signing a new agreement with the UK National Nuclear Laboratory to develop next-generation nuclear technologies", Downing Street added.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority and Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology also agreed to collaborate on fusion energy research. The partnership will build on an agreement between Japan's Furukawa Electric Co Ltd and Britain's Tokamak Energy Ltd to launch a phased program to explore options for a new fusion research and development facility in the UK.

The UK and Japan also formed a Frontier Tech Partnership, which "will see British research translated into scalable technology with Japanese investment, from AI and quantum, to civil nuclear and defense tech", according to Downing Street.

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