[Event Report] Green Transformation Week & Smart Energy Week—Business Prospects in Japan's Energy Market

Japan's largest green transformation (GX) event was held at Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture from October 2 to 4. Various seminars and demonstrations took place over the three days, including expert lectures on the latest information on floating offshore wind power generation, alongside lively business meetings and negotiations.

Japan launched its Green Growth Strategy in 2020, aiming to become carbon neutral by 2050. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships as well as international collaboration and has identified 14 key growth areas, mainly in the energy sector, including offshore wind, hydrogen, and next-generation thermal energy. 

Three overseas companies shared their perspectives on the potential of Japan's energy market.

Sebastien Dufrene, Regional Sales Manager of Eaton, a power engineering software developer, says that technological advancement has always been very important in the Japanese market and that Japanese openness to collaborating on technology presents an opportunity to foreign businesses. "Japan has local solutions, but is also opening to foreign technology to get experience from other places," he adds.

Jun Chong Bin, Assistant Manager of Sentech Eng says that his company aims to learn from Japanese advancements in hydrogen solutions. "Japan's hydrogen-related technology is advanced compared to other countries'. We are here today in order to gather insights and guidance regarding our products," he recounts.

Overseas companies say that the Japanese government's leading position on renewable energy makes the Japanese market particularly attractive.

Dufrene says that Japanese GX growth presents a business opportunity for companies like his: "The government is making a large investment, tapping into this trend to look at the new reserves of power for renewable energy and to meet the clean energy target, and this is really attractive to us."

This sentiment is echoed by David Cho, Vice President, and Jamie Shin, Marketing Director of GS Entec, who say that Japan's offshore wind power market is unique from other Asian markets because Japanese government is encouraging the introduction of offshore wind power: "When working with the government, the guidelines are clear. It's predictable, and this is really important for an official project. It is a huge injection. So, it is quite attractive to us."

Find out more about the opportunities Japan's Green Growth Strategy and growing GX market offer your business.