SB Energy, the renewables unit of Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank, has decided to sell its interest in a 100MW offshore wind project east of Tokyo, citing disagreements with other stakeholders.

The Tokyo-based company in July 2014 announced plans to invest in the wind farm at the port of Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture — a near-shore, fixed foundation project using 20 5MW wind turbines – in co-operation with construction group Komatsuzaki.

However, SB Energy and financial leasing firm Orix — which jumped in as an additional investor in 2015 — have decided to sell their 33.3% shares in Wind Power Energy, the special purpose entity that was established to develop the project.

Komatsuzaki will absorb their stakes and continue to work on the project on its own.

SB Energy felt that the plan was still feasible, but decided to withdraw following disagreements with stakeholders over how to move the project forward, a company spokesperson tells Recharge.

It says that it remains interested in developing other wind projects in the future.

The Kashima site was SB Energy’s first planned offshore development and only its second wind farm investment, following the recent commissioning of a 48MW onshore site in Hamada, in western Japan’s Shimane prefecture.

Its withdrawal from the project comes less than a week after Japanese conglomerate Marubeni scrapped plans to develop a separate 125MW near-shore wind farm at an adjacent site off the port of Kashima.

A spokesperson for the Tokyo-based company told Recharge last week that it ultimately determined that the project would not be feasible.

The eastern coast of Ibaraki prefecture is known for its severe weather conditions, despite the fact that average wind speeds in the Kashima area are not particularly attractive, according to the Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA).

Wind

SoftBank pulls out of 100MW Japan offshore wind project