Ideol and Macquarie Agree on Floating Wind Project in Japan

France-based Ideol and Japan’s Acacia Renewables, Macquarie Capital’s wholly owned subsidiary, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of the first utility-scale commercial floating offshore wind farm in Japan.

The offshore wind project will feature Ideol’s Damping Pool floating foundation technology, with the construction currently set for 2023, Ideol said.

Acacia will provide its experience in project origination, development and financing, with the support of Macquarie Capital’s expertise in managing offshore wind assets, according to the company.

“We are extremely proud to have a global powerhouse recognize the pertinence of our technology which is particularly compatible with tomorrow’s very large wind turbines and increasingly higher local content expectations,” said Paul de la Guérivière, CEO of Ideol.

“The signing of such agreement clearly demonstrates that after 2 full-scale demonstrators on 2 different continents and a pre-commercial array we are now ready for the next stage: commercial-scale deployment. Our international and fully integrated team looks forward to taking on this new challenge in close partnership with Acacia’s and Macquarie Capital’s experts.” 

Ideol’s most recent offshore wind engagement includes developing the 2MW Floatgen floating project in France, which produced first electricity in December 2017 while undergoing tests. The Vestas turbine mounted on the Damping Pool base is now set to be towed to the Centrale Nantes SEM-REV offshore site and then connected to the electricity grid.