JFE Will Invest $363 Million In New Offshore Wind Monopile Plants.

JFE Engineering Corporation of Japan plans to develop a factory for the offshore wind industry's monopile foundations and transition parts. In the future, the company intends to construct jacket-type foundations.

JFE said, "The monopile foundation consists of a transition piece for connecting the monopile as a support and the wind turbine tower and is an extremely thick, large-diameter, long super-heavy object, which is difficult to manufacture at existing factories in Japan. When completed, this factory will be the first monopile basic manufacturing factory in Japan.

The Japanese government has set a goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, and offshore wind is seen as a critical component in making renewable energy the primary power source.

Japan wants to install up to 10 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030 and 30-45 gigawatts by 2040, aiming to increase domestic procurement to 60%.

JFE said, "Our launch of a domestic manufacturing business for monopile foundations will greatly contribute to the achievement of this government goal."

In Kasaoka City, the monopile factory will be built on the grounds of JFE Steel West Japan Works. Construction is set to begin in May 2022, with the factory expected to open in April 2024.

Large single heavy plates will be delivered by JFE Steel to a new factory in Kasaoka City, Okayama Prefecture, where they will be utilized to manufacture monopiles and transition piece raw pipes.

The monopiles will be built and shipped directly to offshore wind construction locations after they are completed.

The raw transition piece pipes will be shipped by sea to JFE Engineering Tsu Seisakusho. They will be installed with secondary and interior parts before being shipped by sea to offshore wind construction locations.

The transition piece assembly factory is scheduled to open in April 2024, with a production capacity of 50 pieces per year.

The total capital investment in both bases is expected to be approximately 40 billion yen ($363.3 million)

JFE said, "We will promptly establish a domestic monopile manufacturing base, and in the future, we will add a jacket-type foundation that has already abundant achievements in port piers, etc., and establish a full lineup system for offshore wind power foundation manufacturing. We will surely meet the rapidly expanding construction demand for offshore wind power generation and will greatly contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality."

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