Tokyo Gas has joined local partner Shizen Energy and Canada’s Northland Power in a consortium planning up to 600MW of offshore wind off Japan.

The company – Japan’s largest supplier of gas – joined the Chiba Offshore Wind venture set up as a 50/50 partnership by Shizen and Northland a year ago. Tokyo Gas’s share in the venture was not disclosed.

The three will work to achieve “promising area” designation under the Japanese government’s offshore wind programme for projects off the Pacific coastline of Chiba Prefecture.

Tokyo Gas said the move is the latest in its mission to build a 5GW renewable energy business by 2030.

The utility earlier this year took a $22m stake in floating wind power pioneer Principle Power.

Both floating and fixed-foundation offshore wind are set to play a role in Japan as the government programme rolls out.

Japan is currently holding its first tenders for offshore wind, with the industry hoping for a 1GW annual build-out that will drive 10GW of installations by the end of the decade and 37GW by 2050.

Newly-elected Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is likely to make offshore wind a cornerstone of his plans to get the nation to net-zero emissions by 2050, but the industry has called for detailed measures to aid the goal.

Tokyo Gas is the latest in a string of domestic and international players to target development off Japan.

Iberdrola, Orsted, RWE, Equinor and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners are among the foreign contingent.