Japan’s Shimizu Corporation will invest ¥50bn ($462m) to build a next-generation offshore wind installation vessel (WIV) that can handle turbines up to 12MW.

Construction of the self-propelled, self-elevating jack-up will start in August, and is scheduled to complete by October 2022. Shimizu said it expects the vessel to bring in ¥50bn revenue annually from domestic offshore installation works.

The vessel is designed to handle installation of 8MW-plusr turbines, which will be “the essential [products] in the Japanese and European offshore wind markets to reduce the cost of generation,” the company said in a statement.