BP, Marubeni consortium in talks over Yusa offshore wind exit

2026-07-05

Talks on exit

BP has begun considering a withdrawal from an offshore wind power project off Yusa in Yamagata Prefecture. It is moving to pull out of the consortium led by Marubeni, which also includes Kansai Electric Power and Tokyo Gas, dealing another blow to offshore wind development in Japan.

BP has started talks with the consortium companies on an exit, multiple people familiar with the matter said. BP's UK headquarters told Nikkei it had 'nothing decided'.

Project to continue

In December 2024, a consortium consisting of Marubeni, Kansai Electric Power, BP, Tokyo Gas and local construction company Marutaka, based in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, won the government's third large-scale public tender for a project off Yusa in Yamagata Prefecture. It plans to present a detailed turbine installation plan in November 2025 and aims to start operations in June 2030.

BP is believed to hold about one-quarter of the special purpose company, or SPC, that serves as the project developer, a stake roughly on par with Kansai Electric Power and behind Marubeni. The project itself is expected to continue, with the other consortium members likely to take over the shareholding BP gives up.

Series of exits in Japan

BP merged its offshore wind businesses around the world with Japan's largest power generator JERA and established the jointly owned new company JERA Nex bp in August 2025. However, the Yamagata offshore project was awarded before the merger and had effectively been led by BP's UK headquarters.

Before its merger with BP, JERA won projects off Aomori and Akita prefectures and is now continuing them under the integrated company. By contrast, the Yamagata offshore project has struggled to transition to the integrated company, and BP is believed to have concluded that it would be difficult to remain involved on its own. BP will continue to take part in offshore wind in Japan through the integrated company.

In Japan, a consortium of Mitsubishi Corp and Chubu Electric Power announced in August 2025 that it would withdraw from three sea areas off Chiba and Akita prefectures. The projects had been won in the government's first large-scale auction, but the companies gave up on continuing them because of surging construction costs. In June 2026, Equinor, Norway's largest oil producer, also said it would exit Japan, abandoning efforts to develop projects in the country.

The government positions offshore wind as a pillar of renewable energy expansion, and its basic energy plan sets a target of raising wind power's share of the power mix to 4% to 8% in fiscal 2040 from 1.1% in fiscal 2023. Onshore wind development sites are becoming increasingly limited.

Of the nine sea areas that have so far been put out to the government's large-scale tenders, Mitsubishi's consortium has withdrawn from three, which will be re-tendered. Among the operators participating in the remaining six areas, BP is the first to have made its intention to withdraw clear.

Among overseas companies, Spain's Iberdrola is joining an ENEOS-led project off Akita Prefecture, while Germany's RWE is joining a Mitsui & Co.-led project off Niigata Prefecture. If foreign investment pullbacks spread, Japanese companies will need to reassess project viability in light of rising burdens.

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