Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni) signed a Cooperation Agreement and a Participation Agreement with BP Alternative Energy Investments Limited (BPAEIL) , a 100% subsidiary of BP p.l.c (bp), a leading integrated energy player in the world’s energy markets, to work together to achieve the development of offshore wind opportunities as well as potentially explore other decarbonization projects including hydrogen. As a first step, Marubeni and BPAEIL have agreed to set up a joint venture in which BPAEIL participates in a 49% stake for selected potential offshore wind business opportunity in Japan.
In terms of offshore wind projects, Marubeni was one of the first developers which participated in the demonstration of the Fukushima Floating Offshore Wind Farm Project, and also participated in the offshore wind farm project at Akita Port and Noshiro Port, which is the first large-scale commercial based offshore wind project in Japan. In addition, Marubeni together with its consortium members secured seabed leasing rights for the ScotWind project in Scotland, UK in January 2022, which has a maximum capacity of 2,600 MW.
Marubeni owns stakes in power projects across 21 countries (including Japan) for a total net capacity of about 12GW. As part of the company’s activities for enhancing sustainability, Marubeni issued the Notification Regarding Business Policies Pertaining to Sustainability in Relation to Coal-Fired Power Generation Business and Renewable Energy Generation Business in September 2018 and set the Marubeni Long-Term Vision on Climate Change in March 2021 for the purpose of contributing to solving global climate change. Based on its experience in acting as a lead developer for power projects, Marubeni strives to keep expanding offshore wind projects globally.
In connection with this agreement, bp will establish a local offshore wind development team in Japan, where it has been operating since 1960 and has a sizeable oil and LNG trading and Castrol lubricants business with Japanese customers. bp already has a net offshore wind development pipeline of more than 5GW, with projects in the US and UK. Since 2019, it has increased its renewables development pipeline four-fold to more than 24GW and has already met its 2025 target of developing 20GW renewable capacity.
The agreement is subject to merger control approvals, with completion expected to follow swiftly following approval.