The government of Japan has identified two new areas for offshore wind development.

The identified areas, off Akita City in the north and Hibikinada in the south, as zones that show promise for the development of future offshore wind farms.

Aside from these two areas, the government also named three new so-called preparatory zones off Asahi City and Goto Island, where floating wind technology could be used, as well as off Ichikikushikino City in Kagoshima.

During the summer, Japan passed a bill to allow the construction of offshore wind projects in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is beyond the 22-km line of Japan’s territorial waters.

Last week, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism chose three sites, off Akita, Asahi, and Hibikinada, to be surveyed by JOGMEC.

As part of its net-zero emissions by 2050 strategy, Japan has previously revealed a target to deploy 10GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040, including floating wind.