In an interview, Statoil vice president Halfdan Brustad said: "Japan is on the watchlist. We don’t say no to good opportunities."
Brustad’s comments follow an announcement in September by Japan’s trade ministry that it is planning a ¥10-20 billion ($130-260 million) project to develop floating turbines in the deep waters off the northern coast. It hopes to build a 1GW floating offshore wind farm by 2020.
Meanwhile, Statoil’s Hywind floating wind turbine project is set to be trialled in Scotland as a multi-turbine project.
Japan’s trade ministry said it wanted to stimulate domestic manufacturers to study, design and build turbines for the deep waters around the country’s coast.
Japan looks set to have a feed-in-tariff following the passing of its renewable-energy bill in the upper house of parliament.
The law aims to reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power following the disaster at the Fukushima power plant. It also aims to reduce the country's greenhouse emissions to 25% of its 1990 level by 2020.
