The Japanese government is pushing ahead with plenty of wind power projects and is seeking overseas expertise. To this end, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), one of the country’s top shipping lines, has moved to form tie-ups with European experts in the wind power sector to help realise the Asian nation’s nascent wind power ambitons.
The giant shipping company has just signed with Van Oord from the Netherlands to jointly own and operate offshore wind installation vessels under the Japanese flag. The partners aim to start operating a jack up vessel in Japan by 2022 at the earliest. The vessel will have a crane capacity of more than 1,000 mt and will be suitable to install the latest generation of wind turbines.
The vessels will be used for the transport and installation of both the foundations and the wind turbines for offshore wind farms.
In addition to the collaboration for offshore installation vessels, NYK and Van Oord are also exploring opportunities to collaborate on other types of vessels required for the construction and operation of offshore wind farms.
In response to the growing offshore wind market in Japan, a new law came into force in April 2019 that aims to facilitate the development of offshore wind projects in Japan.
In related news as NYK beefs up its wind power credentials, the Japanese line has teamed with Northern Offshore Group, a Swedish holding entity that owns Northern Offshore Service, for a crew transfer vessel (CTV) business related to offshore wind power generation in Japan.
