STORY / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Around the world with Team Norway: cooperation is blowing in the wind in Japan
- Published 23 May 2024; updated 30 September 2026; estimated reading time 3 minutes. The article says Japan–Norway industry links extend over a century, while their renewable-energy partnership is newer. A December 2023 Green Strategic Partnership communique calls for more trade/investment in net-zero solutions, including offshore wind, batteries, hydrogen, ammonia and carbon capture/storage. It quotes Marianne S. Berg, whose embassy counsellor term had ended by the page’s update; the note says she became a special adviser at Innovation Norway.
- Both countries target carbon neutrality by 2050, have long coastlines, maritime industries and deep surrounding waters, making floating wind relevant. The article contrasts Norway’s electricity exports with Japan’s then-cited 11% energy self-sufficiency. It says Japan had a 4.6 GW offshore-wind project pipeline and targeted 5.7 GW in production by 2030 through annual auctions.
- Norway is described as having an offshore-wind value chain spanning vessels, cables, foundations, geosurvey, marine equipment, SCADA, sensors, subsea systems and substations. The article says 13 Norwegian companies were invited to Tokyo’s Wind Expo in March 2023. Berg highlights Japan’s long-term policy roadmaps and government–industry–research coordination as useful collaboration strengths.
- Partnerships cited: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines became a strategic partner in Norwegian floating-wind company Odfjell OceanWind in 2023; Kansai Electric Power joined Norwegian/European partners in the GoliatVIND floating-wind pilot in northern Norway. Norwegian shipbuilder VARD signed a 2023 contract to design and construct a hybrid-powered cable-laying/construction vessel for Japan’s Toyo Construction, valued above USD 200 million. Equinor is also active in Japan as a developer. Japan Wind Power Association and Norwegian Offshore Wind signed an MoU to accelerate business links.
- A Japanese delegation visited Norway’s floating high-voltage direct-current platform in 2024 as part of the Ocean Grid project. The article stresses in-person exchange and relationship-building before MoUs or contracts. It links MacGregor mooring systems, Archer Wind floating foundations and Uptime remote logistics systems as examples.
- Contact: Per Christer Lund, Counsellor for Energy and Technology, Norwegian Embassy in Tokyo, per.christer.lund@innovationnorway.no. Non-exhaustive supplier list: Equinor (developer); GeoProvider, NGI and PGS (geosurvey); DOF, Havfram, Kongsberg Maritime, MacGregor, Seaonics, Uptime International and VARD (maritime/transport-installation); AkvaGroup, Autronica, BlueWind, Glamox, Hyndla, Imenco, Jotun, MRPC, Seasystems, Siemens Energy, Subsea Harvest, Wind Catching and World Wide Wind (offshore-wind technologies); StormGeo and Vissim (services); DNV, Gard and Volue (classification/advisory/other). Related industries: Energy and Offshore wind.