Japan

For Japan's offshore wind market, 2025 marked a critical turning point. Despite glaring delays and challenges at the individual project level, the year saw fundamental discussions emerge on the need to reassess policy design and the market's underlying assumptions. Against the backdrop of global inflation, higher interest rates and ongoing supply chain constraints, the business environment surrounding offshore wind projects in Japan became significantly more challenging. These external pressures amplified pre-existing structural issues with the Japanese auction framework.

Onshore wind as a point of comparison

Developments in Japan's onshore wind sector provide an important point of comparison. While onshore wind has a longer track record in Japan and has gradually expanded under the FIT and FIP schemes, it continues to face its own constraints, including limited suitable land, lengthy environmental assessments, increased local opposition and grid capacity restrictions. This experience underscores the importance of creating a more predictable and bankable framework for offshore wind, which is expected to play a central role in the country's long-term decarbonisation strategy.