Sea Areas as Project Target Areas Designated under the Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas for the Development of Marine Renewable Energy Power Generation Facilities

1. Overview

Under Article 8 of the Act, if the government of Japan intends to designate a certain area as a target sea area for the development of marine renewable energy power generation facilities (“project target area”), it is required to: make a draft of such designation available for public inspection for two weeks; consult with the heads of relevant administrative organs with the written opinions submitted by stakeholders during the period of the public inspection; and hold interviews with the relevant prefectural governors and a council under the Act.

For two weeks from June 16 to 30, 2020, METI and MLIT provided a public inspection concerning the draft proposal for designation of the three zones (four sea areas) mentioned above, and they consulted with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Minister of the Environment and other heads of relevant administrative organs and held interviews with the governors of related prefectures and the respective councils of the sea areas.

As a result, METI and MLIT found that the three zones (four sea areas) satisfy the criteria stipulated in Article 8 of the Act, and, accordingly, they, on July 21, 2020, designated the sea areas as project target areas under the Act. METI and MLIT also hereby publicly notify details of the designation together.

• For further details, see the Japanese language press release.

References

Summaries of the opinions submitted by stakeholders during the period of the public inspection and responses to these opinions by METI and MLIT are publicized on the following websites.

• ANRE website (in Japanese)
• MLIT website (in Japanese)

Division in Charge

New and Renewable Energy Division, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy