For months, industry sources have been confident that whenthe next slate of FITs was announced – covering projects installed between April2014 and March 2015 – it would include a separate subsidy for offshore wind,which is currently paid at the same rate as onshore wind.

The panel, established last November, has formally endorsed anoffshore wind FIT of ¥36 ($0.35) per kWh – up from the ¥22/kWh payoutcurrently offered to onshore and offshore wind developers.