Oil refiner Cosmo Energy's offshore wind setback puts costs in focus

Japanese company's long track record on land came up short in bidding race

20220615N Fukushima wind turbine

Cosmo's plans include 900 MW of onshore wind, but Japan's limited availability of suitable land will make offshore projects crucial.

NAOYUKI TOYAMA, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Japanese oil refiner Cosmo Energy Holdings's renewable energy ambitions met with a cold gust of reality when it lost a bid for an offshore wind project last year. Now, the company needs to prove it has cost competitiveness to reach a goal of quintupling its wind power capacity in less than a decade.

A consortium with partners including Japanese renewable energy company Renova and Tohoku Electric Power was outbid for a project off the coast of Akita Prefecture in northern Japan to a group led by Mitsubishi Corp.

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