Japan, 8 others join Global Offshore Wind Alliance

The alliance targets to speed up the installation of offshore wind.

Japan joined the Global Offshore Wind Alliance at the COP27 in Egypt which committed to accelerating the deployment of offshore wind to address the issues of climate and energy security.

In a statement,  the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which led the alliance along with Denmark and the Global Energy Council, said the other countries that joined were Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the US.

“Offshore wind represents a unique opportunity for countries to add huge volumes of new zero-carbon power generation, increase their climate ambition and ratchet up their (nationally determined contributions),” said IRENA Director-General Francesco la Camera.

“Offshore wind is more than competitive with fossil fuel generation, and can also provide a massive boost to investment and job creation,” he added.

The IRENA and the International Energy Agency both said offshore wind energy capacity has to exceed 2000 gigawatts (GW) in 2050 to keep the global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celcius and reach net zero.

The current capacity of offshore wind is just over 60GW.