Acceleration Of The Development Of Kashima Port Offshore Wind Project

Wind Power Group Co., Ltd. ("Wind Power Group"), Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. ("Tokyo Gas"), and Vena Energy Holdings Ltd ("Vena Energy") announced today, through Wind Power Energy Co., Ltd., the acceleration of the development of the Kashima Offshore Wind Project (the “Project”). The Project is located in Kashima Port in the Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, and has a maximum capacity of 159.6 MW covering an area of 680 hectares. The Kashima Offshore Wind Project is expected to commence construction in 2024, and once completed it will be capable of delivering clean renewable energy to over 70,000 Japanese households annually.

The Project is a joint-venture among Wind Power Group, which has extensive experience as a local wind power generation company; Tokyo Gas, which is a reliable gas and power utility company supplying energy and service to customers mainly in Kanto region; and Vena Energy, which operates, constructs, and develops wind and solar projects in Japan and across the Asia-Pacific region. The Kashima Port Offshore Wind Project will support the “2050 Carbon Neutrality” strategy announced by the Japanese government. The strategy identified wind power as a key driver to achieve the targets of generating more than half of the country’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050, while decarbonizing and boosting the domestic economy.

“Wind Power Group is a local company that has been developing onshore and offshore wind power generation projects in the Ibaraki Prefecture for 20 years. One of our projects, Wind Power Ibaraki, notably withstood the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011. We will leverage our experience to contribute to the development of this large-scale offshore wind project together with our partners,” said KOMATSUZAKI Mamoru , Chief Executive Officer of Wind Power Group. “Once completed, our local communities will witness renewable energy in motion from the 19 offshore wind turbines located in front of our head office. Wind power generation in Japan is entering a new era. As a front-runner in the offshore wind power development in Japan, we will contribute to the realization of a carbon-free economy through large-scale offshore wind power generation.”

“In order to achieve our ‘Net Zero CO2’ objective as set out in the Group Management Vision, ‘Compass 2030’, we at Tokyo Gas are expanding our renewable energy business to reach the target transaction volume of 5 GW by 2030.” said UCHIDA Takashi, Representative Director, President of Tokyo Gas. “Among the generation technologies, we will actively engage in offshore wind power in particular, while working closely with local communities. Gas-fired generation as one of our core businesses, has an advantage in balancing output fluctuation in the power generated by renewable energy. Combination of gas and renewables allows us to provide clean and stable energy supply. We aim to lead the growth of renewable energy, which will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.”

“The Kashima Port Offshore Wind Project is a significant milestone for Vena Energy’s offshore wind strategy, and we are excited to accelerate the development of this project together with our partners.” said Nitin Apte, Chief Executive Officer of Vena Energy. “Japan is a key market for Vena Energy, representing the majority of our offshore wind pipeline and over a third of our 16 GW^* renewable energy portfolio across the Asia-Pacific region. We are fully committed to accelerating the energy transition in Japan, the sustainability of our host communities, and the preservation of the environment”.

^* Includes assets in operation, construction, and shovel-ready (OCSR) stages, and assets in various stages of development.