Japanese integrated trading and investment business Marubeni has entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UK Government to invest £10bn ($12.2bn) in the country’s renewable energy projects over the next ten years.

The MoU has been signed with the UK’s Department for Business and Trade with the objective of cooperation in offshore wind and green hydrogen projects.

The UK has set a 2050 target for net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and plans to develop offshore wind farms with a total capacity of up to 50GW by the end of the 2020s.

By 2030, the UK also aims to achieve up to 5GW of floating offshore wind farms and 10GW of production capacity for low-carbon hydrogen.

Marubeni stated: “[We] will leverage collaboration with the UK Government and local governments to promote clean energy projects in the UK and contribute to the UK’s goal of achieving net-zero GHG emissions, while also feeding back the knowledge and experience gained through its UK operations to Japan, thus actively contributing to Japan’s decarbonisation efforts.”

In November 2021, the Japanese company partnered with Scottish Enterprise to decarbonise Scotland via floating offshore wind and green hydrogen businesses.

In March 2022, Marubeni and BP Alternative Energy Investments Limited (BPAEIL) announced cooperation and participation agreements for the development of offshore wind and decarbonisation projects, including hydrogen.

They will set up a joint venture (JV) for offshore wind business opportunities in Japan, with BPAEIL owning a 49% interest in the JV.