Marubeni Corporation (hereinafter, “Marubeni”) is pleased to announce that the Offshore Wind Farm Project at Akita Port and Noshiro Port in Akita Prefecture in Japan (hereinafter, “Project”) has received “Innovation Deal of the Year Asia-Pacific” at the PFI 2020 Awards. The PFI Awards are presented by Project Finance International, an international project finance magazine.

The Project involves the construction, operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms in Akita Port and Noshiro Port in Akita Prefecture. Marubeni established a special purpose company called Akita Offshore Wind Corporation (hereinafter, “AOW”) in April 2016, to develop the Project together with its partners. The partners are OBAYASHI CORPORATION, Tohoku Sustainable & Renewable Energy Co.Inc., Cosmo Eco Power Co., Ltd., Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., The Akita Bank, Ltd., Ohmori Co., Ltd., Sawakigumi Corporation, Kyowa Oil Co., Ltd., Katokensetsu.Co.Ltd, Kanpu Co., Ltd. and Sankyo Co., Ltd.
In February 2020, AOW signed a non-recourse financing loan agreement. The loan consists of project finance provided by multiple domestic and foreign financial institutions with MUFG Bank, Ltd., Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation jointly acting as the joint mandated lead arrangers. This award, recognizing the AOW Project for its innovation, came partially as a result of it being the first commercial large-scale offshore wind project in Japan.

To contribute to building a sustainable society, Marubeni will leverage its experience in IPPs to achieve environmental load reduction and stable power supply.