bp and Japanese integrated trading and investment company Marubeni have partnered to explore an offshore wind opportunity and potentially other decarbonization projects, including hydrogen.
As part of the agreement, bp will join Marubeni in its proposal for a wind project offshore Japan by purchasing a 49% stake in the proposed project.
Japan aims to be carbon neutral by 2050 and has set a target of deploying 10Gw of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 30-45Gw by 2040.
bp currently 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 to more than 24Gw and is on track to meet its 2025 target of having developed 20Gw renewable capacity.
Marubeni is a partner in development, permitting, and construction of the 140Mw Akita project—the first large-scale, commercial offshore wind project to achieve financial close in Japan to date. Marubeni has a total power generating capacity of about 12Gw and has been involved in the development and operation of more than 2Gw of onshore and offshore wind power globally.
bp has been operating in Japan since 1960. It has a sizeable oil and LNG trading and Castrol lubricants business with Japanese customers and aims to continue to grow these businesses. In 2021, bp agreed to work with Japanese shipping company NYK Line on future fuels and transportation solutions to support decarbonization of the hard-to-abate shipping sector.
The agreement with Marubeni is subject to merger control approvals. No timeframe was given.
