Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki expressed his view that the prefecture “should respond proactively” to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s public tender for demonstration sea areas for floating offshore wind power generation. In an exclusive interview with Nikkei, areas off the coast of Hiyama in southern Hokkaido emerged as leading candidate sites.
Governor Suzuki indicated that expanding renewable energy goes beyond mere decarbonization; it would enhance Hokkaido’s advantages as a hub for attracting data center clusters and for the production and demonstration of “physical AI”—artificial intelligence that operates in the real world.
The current tender, launched by METI on July 15, is accepting applications from prefectures until the end of October. The initiative aims to develop technology for sea areas with deep waters and harsh wave conditions, and the severe environmental conditions in the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean areas surrounding Hokkaido are seen as a suitable match.
In the interview, Governor Suzuki pointed out the growing importance of not just generative AI but also physical AI. He expressed the view that Hokkaido’s characteristics—its vast agricultural and dairy lands and cold climate—make it well-suited for demonstration testing of physical AI technologies such as autonomous driving and robotics.
A stable power supply from renewable energy sources is also a decisive factor in the competition to attract large-scale data centers. Hokkaido is already seeing data center development leveraging its cool climate, and the expansion of offshore wind power could further strengthen that foundation.
Floating offshore wind power has the advantage of being installable in deeper waters compared to bottom-fixed turbines, and is expected to dramatically increase the renewable energy potential within Japan’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. The Japanese government aims to commercialize floating offshore wind power by 2040, with this demonstration project serving as a core step toward that goal.
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AloJapan.com