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Expo 2025: Scotland's offshore wind energy industry

On 18 September Scotland will showcase the best of its offshore wind energy industry at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Find out more about the Scottish companies that’ll be on show and why you should Think Scotland for energy transition. 

Did you know?

Scotland has been at the heart of the energy industry in Europe for decades, and has some of the world's most ambitious climate targets.

  • World-leading climate targets

    Scotland aims to be carbon neutral by 2040 and achieve net zero by 2045.

  • 50 years of expertise

    Scotland’s decades in the energy industry give it huge advantages in developing renewables projects.

  • 45GW offshore wind

    projects proposed for development, including 19.3GW of floating wind 

A pipeline of pioneering projects

Scotland’s strength in energy innovation is matched by its ambition to pioneer projects that will help the world transition to a net zero future. These include:

  • Project North Sea – this 300-megawatt (MW) oil and gas energy transition project will use a floating wind farm to power a major oil and gas platform and export significant amounts of excess electricity to the national grid through its grid connection.
  • ACORN – the world’s first at-scale, full-chain blue hydrogen production facility will generate blue hydrogen from North Sea natural gas from 2026, with CO2 emissions safely mitigated through CCUS infrastructure.
  • ScotWind – this was the first round of offshore wind leasing round in Scottish waters for a decade. It resulted in 20 projects securing seabed option agreements which are set to create almost 30 gigawatts (GW) new generating capacity of the next decade, much of which will be floating wind

  • A heritage of energy innovation

    Scotland has been at the heart of the energy industry in Europe for over 60 years.

    Through oil and gas exploration in the North Sea in challenging offshore conditions, Scotland has developed world-leading expertise in offshore engineering. That expertise is now being applied to offshore renewables.  

    Scotland has a reputation as a climate change leader thanks to its ambitious goal to reach net zero emissions by 2045 (five years ahead of the rest of the UK) and its many energy transition projects. But did you know that it’s been exploring renewable energy sources for well over a hundred years?

    In 1887, the UK’s first windmill for electricity was built in Scotland by James Blythe. Built in the lands of his own home in Aberdeenshire, the structure generated enough power to light 10 bulbs and a small lathe. 

    This spirt of curiosity and determination to harness renewable sources of energy lives on in Scotland. Since these early inventions, the country has continued to pioneer sustainable solutions.

    Now, it’s home to the world’s first community-owned tidal array, the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, and one of Europe’s largest hydrogen bus fleets.

Already working together

Scotland and Japan already have close ties and ongoing projects in the energy transition industry.

With shared net zero ambitions and a passion for energy innovation, these partnerships are helping drive forward both country’s climate goals.   

Japanese company Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) is establishing a subsea electric cable manufacturing plant in the Scottish Highlands in one of Scotland’s biggest ever inward investment projects.

Scotland’s offshore wind energy sector is full of potential for global investors – it’s recognised as a global top 10 nation in this industry, with a projected 45GW pipeline over 30 years. The nation is at the forefront of innovative renewable energy technologies. These include the world’s first deep water wind project and the first floating wind farm.  

Mike Engelbrecht, Vice President of Sumitomo Electric UK Power Cables Ltd, said: “We looked at our strategy for the western hemisphere. There was significant development opportunity in the North Sea’s offshore energy sector. Scotland was in pole position, which allowed us to be closer to the UK’s and Europe's rapidly expanding renewable energy industry.”   

Find out more 

At COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, Japanese firm the Marubeni Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Scottish Enterprise, building on close ties and shared net zero goals between Japan and Scotland.

The two companies entered into a partnership agreement that would see Scotland’s national economic development agency working in partnership with Marubeni to explore opportunities in offshore wind and green hydrogen.

Three significant areas of focus were outlined in the agreement:

  • Decarbonising projects, including floating offshore wind and the development and installation of energy management systems
  • Supply chain development, including the establishment of an offshore wind supply chain and a green hydrogen value chain
  • Knowledge sharing, including hosting joint educational programs between Japanese and Scottish university students

In the years since, the Marubeni Corporation has opened its first office in Scotland to support the work outlined in the MoU.

With Scottish Enterprise support, the Japanese company also began work with leading renewable energy developer SSE Renewables and Danish fund management company, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, to develop what will become one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind farms off the east coast of Scotland.

Find out more about the MoU 

SSE Pacifico was formed in October 2021 to deliver offshore wind projects in Japan. SSE Pacifico is a Joint Ownership Company between SSE Renewables, part of the integrated UK-listed energy group SSE, and Pacifico Energy, one of Japan’s largest developers of renewable energy.

SSE Renewables operates over 2.5 GW of fixed-bottom offshore wind.  With project partners Marubeni Corporation and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), SSE Renewables are working to deliver Ossian, an up to 3.6GW floating offshore wind farm off the east coast of Scotland. 

In Japan, SSE Pacifico is part of a consortium to develop a 30 MW floating offshore wind demonstration project in Japan. This is under the Green Innovation Fund (GIF), established by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Visit the SSE Pacifico websiteopens in a new window 

Interested in Scottish companies?

Get in touch with our Tokyo office to find out more and get connected.

Phone: +81 3 5211 1310opens in a new window 

Energy transition in Scotland

With a network of renewable energy experts, abundant natural resources, and a history in the energy industries, Scottish companies are leading the way in the energy transition.

At home, they’re pushing the boundaries in technological and scientific development of renewable energy, particularly in areas like offshore wind. Scotland is in the global top ten offshore wind markets, with an enormous project pipeline of over 45GW. Supporting these projects is the largest concentration of offshore engineering expertise in the world outside of Houston, USA.

Across the world, innovative products and services from Scottish companies are helping other countries meet net zero targets. Japan is one of them – and it’s already collaborating with Scotland on multiple to reduce carbon emissions.

Interested in partnering with Scotland?

Scottish Development International’s office in Tokyo is working with Japanese companies who are looking to trade with or invest into Scotland. 

Phone: +81 3 5211 1310