Japan's NYK Line has teamed up with the country's largest geotechnical investigation company to push forward its wind farm vessel ambitions.
OYO Corp will work with NYK and its European vessel operating partner Fugro to lay the groundwork for offshore power generation.
Before constructing an offshore wind power plant, it is necessary to collect geotechnical data in the sea at the proposed site.
In November 2020, Tokyo-listed NYK agreed a deal with Fugro to jointly operate an offshore geotechnical investigation vessel (GIV) and provide cone penetration tests (CPTs) in Japan.
The deal with OYO will also allow the partners to carry out standard penetration tests (SPTs).
"In the future, the partnership, in cooperation with OYO, will be able to link various offshore geotechnical investigation results and provide data in a form that meets diverse customer needs," NYK said.
The first GIV is planned for 2022.
CPTs involve a ship carrying out ground strength and resistance assessments for the construction of foundations.
NYK and Fugro have already launched a joint study to take advantage of a new law introduced by the Japanese government in 2019 aimed at speeding up the development of offshore wind farms.
"Demand within the offshore wind power generation market is now expected to expand," NYK said on 26 January 2021.
In January 2020, NYK said it was making a push into the domestic wind farm vessel sector through joint venture agreements with Van Oord and Northern Offshore Group (NOG).
The Japanese owner will own and operate installation ships under the Japanese flag with Dutch group Van Oord, with 2022 a target date.
The planned vessels will have a crane capacity of more than 1,000 tons — big enough for the new generation of turbines.
The agreement with Sweden's NOG, which owns Northern Offshore Services (NOS), will see the companies start a joint study for a new crew-transfer vessel (CTV) in Japan.
Japan's wind power sector currently generates a small proportion of the country's electricity. As of 2017, the country had a total installed capacity of 3,399 MW.
Government targets for wind power deployment are relatively low when compared to other countries, at 1.7% of electricity production by 2030.
It has been estimated that Japan has the potential for 144 GW for onshore wind and 608 GW of offshore wind capacity.
