Tokyo-based developer Shizen Energy and Canada’s Northland Power have inked an agreement to work together to develop “early stage” offshore wind projects off Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

The 50:50 joint venture, Chiba Offshore Wind, will focus on developments with capacities of around 600MW, according to the partners.

“Taking action for the planet is our company’s foremost priority, and we hope to pass [it] on to the future generations,” said Masaya Hasegawa, Shizen Energy’s representative director.

“To achieve this goal, we aim to grow as a company and cooperate with other businesses worldwide to shape our common future.

“We strongly believe that our partnership with Northland will allow us to put that vision into action and bring us a step closer to making a positive impact on the future.”

Mike Crawley, Northland’s CEO, added: “With Shizen Energy’s strong track record of developing and constructing renewable projects in Japan, and Northland’s success developing, constructing and operating offshore wind farms globally, we view this agreement as an excellent opportunity to combine the strengths of the two companies to achieve something great.”

Toronto-headquartered Northland has over 1.4GW of projects under construction and in advanced development, including in Asia, where it owns a 60% equity stake in Taiwan’s 1GW Hai Long offshore wind farm.

Shizen Energy has been involved in the development of around 1GW of solar, on- and offshore wind, biomass and hydro power generation in Japan, with first forays recently being made into global markets including a PV development in Brazil in July and maiden wind and solar projects in Vietnam and Thailand.

In July, the Japanese government unveiled an updated Energy Supply Plan targeting 10GW in on- and offshore wind capacity by 2030 as part of its ambition to have renewables reach a 22-24% share of the island nation’s electricity generation by this date.