‘Dawn' of Asia Offshore Wind Boom Lures Japanese Trading Houses

Mitsui & Co. buys into 300-megawatt project off Taiwan coast
Marubeni develops two offshore projects in northern Japan

Eneco Luchterduinen wind farm, developed by the Dutch energy company Eneco and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp.Source: Mitsubishi Corp.

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By Chisaki Watanabe and Ichiro Suzuki

May 28, 2018 at 9:00 PM UTC

Updated on

May 29, 2018 at 3:12 AM UTC

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Untapped offshore wind is luring Japan’s biggest commodity houses to invest in projects in Taiwan and at home, buoyed by favorable government policies that support development of the clean power.

Mitsui & Co. this month bought a stake in the Taiwanese wind developer Yushan Energy Co. that gives the Tokyo-based company a 20 percent stake in a 300-megawatt offshore project that may cost $1.8 billion to develop. Mitsubishi Corp. is working with partners to build a separate windmill venture off Taiwan’s coast and Marubeni Corp. is developing two offshore projects in the northern Japanese prefecture of Akita.