Fireplace Talk on Offshore Wind Technologies

On February 27^th 2020, the 6^th Fireplace Talk on the topic of "Offshore Wind Technologies in Germany and Japan" took place in Tokyo with the participation of 23 representatives from business, politics and academia from both countries. After a welcome by Dr. Lucas Witoslawski from the AHK Japan, Dr. Christine Falken-Großer, Head of the Department for Bilateral Energy Cooperation at the BMWi, gave an overview of the current state of German energy policy and the German-Japanese Energy Partnership. Mr. Takahiko Miyao from the International Affairs Department of NEDO presented the technology development in the field of offshore wind energy of NEDO on the basis of various offshore wind projects. Mr. Jan Rispens, head of the Cluster Renewable Energy Hamburg, gave an overview of the development of offshore wind energy in Germany. Prof. David Schlipf, founder of sowento GmbH and professor at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, presented the Smart Lidar system for determining the optimal wind and turbine conditions that allow maximizing energy production. In the discussion that followed, questions about incentives for offshore wind project developers in Germany and existing barriers to project development in Japan were of particular interest.