Meet JERA Nex: Japan's Largest Energy Firm’s Renewables Arm

Many will have heard of JERA, Japan’s biggest energy company whose name literally means ‘Japan’s Energy for a New Era’.

A joint venture between TEPCO Fuel & Power — a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Company — and Chubu Electric Power, JERA was founded in 2015 and is Japan's largest power generation company.

Building on the success of JERA, which has a total output of around 73GW of power generation capacity, JERA has launched JERA Nex.

What is JERA Nex?

Launched in April, JERA Nex is the new renewables arm of JERA which is dedicated to scaling up renewables globally. The venture has the ambition of reaching 20GW of renewable capacity by 2035 and aims to do so by investing in, owning and operating onshore and offshore renewables assets including wind, solar and battery storage. 

The company is headquartered in London and operates projects all over the world.

One person at the core of propelling JERA Nex’s mission is Richard Scott, VP Global Development, Onshore. As well as boasting a broad career with deep expertise in offshore wind, he is now leading JERA Nex’s efforts to build its onshore renewables and battery storage portfolio, which the company envisages will make up two thirds of its 20GW ambition by 2035.

He leverages the experience of his 22-year career — which has seen him working in both onshore and offshore renewable projects across five continents with companies including JERA-acquired Parkwind and SSE Renewables — to grow JERA Nex into a renewable energy powerhouse.

“Our aim now is to grow JERA Nex into a global renewable energy leader, scaling fast while building high-quality projects,” Richard explained. “Our ambition of 20GW net renewable energy capacity, at FID or beyond, by 2035 is a significant step up from where we are today. We are in a unique position to do that with our current pipeline, talent and the backing of JERA.”

JERA Nex positions itself to navigate energy’s major trends and challenges 

Like many, Richard attests that the global energy transition is essential to combating climate change, but it is far from straightforward. One of the most significant challenges being faced now, and will continue to face, he believes is delivering sustainable and safe energy that is also affordable.

He continued: “The challenges across the renewables industry — particularly in wind — are clear, with a ‘perfect storm’ created by rising interest rates, inflationary pressures and supply chain bottlenecks. However, I’m optimistic about the opportunities ahead, with upcoming results from offshore wind auctions across Europe and increasing investment in the industry.

“The IEA’s latest report predicts global investment in clean-energy technology and infrastructure is set to hit US$2tn this year and renewables are a core part of that.”

To forge its way in this ever-evolving landscape and ensuring the best shot at efficient and sustainable operations, JERA Nex is employing a number of strategies to attract and retain top talent, with diversity and inclusion vital to its recruitment efforts.

For Richard, the thing that excites him the most about JERA Nex is the team, and he highlights its plan to be a top employer in the renewables sector.

“We already have a team of more than 300 globally across every type of business discipline including safety, finance, legal, engineering, IT, business development or project delivery and operations. To help achieve growth at the scale we are aspiring to, we need to continue hiring top talent who are excited by the energy transition and want to grow alongside us. 

“This comes from a combination of finding people — whether that’s through recruitment partners or the wider industry networks — and them finding us. Hopefully as we continue to grow and announce new projects more people will know JERA Nex and want to be part of our journey.”

Diversity and inclusion is crucial to JERA Nex’s recruitment, a challenge Richard highlights as as universal as the energy transition itself.

“We need all kinds of experiences and perspectives to help us find the best solutions,” he said. “We also want this to be a place people want to work, and where they feel confident being themselves. That’s how we make sure people do their best work, foster collaboration across different cultures and ensure we’re not just recruiting the best talent, but developing and keeping it too.”

Leveraging new technologies and innovations in wind, solar and battery storage

The establishment of JERA Nex as a dedicated renewables business is an innovative model in and of itself, Richard believes, and the company is developing exciting projects all over the world that not only provide clean energy but serve as proof of concept for the industry. 

Examples of this include: 

• Operations at the 250MW Arcadis Ost 1 wind farm in the German Baltic Sea: This involves deploying a number of innovative approaches in design and installation. The project achieved a world first with the completion of an offshore wind farm installation without the use of jack-up vessels. By using self-propelled floating cranes and the world’s latest and largest installation vessels the ships were able to maintain their floating position without the use of tugs or anchors.
• The installation of 180,000 kWh of battery storage capacity at JERA Nex’s Ishikari Bay offshore wind farm: This shows how valuable taking an integrated approach to renewables, and scaling up the whole ecosystem at once, is to maximising impact. Battery storage allows for a better balance for the grid and ensures the production of renewable energy as well as managing when it’s released to the grid depending on the demand. 

*******************

Make sure you check out the latest edition of Energy Digital Magazine and also sign up to our global conference series - Sustainability LIVE 2024.

*******************

Energy Digital is a BizClik brand.