RCG bolsters leadership team by appointing Masato Bannai to support Japan’s offshore wind expansion

Tokyo, Japan – The Renewables Consulting Group (RCG), a sector specialist advisory firm, has appointed renewable energy veteran Masato Bannai as a Director in the company’s Tokyo office.

Mr Bannai is a highly-respected professional with more than 25 years’ experience working across a broad range of technologies, such as offshore wind, solar PV and terrestrial wind.

Bannai’s appointment coincides with the expected growth of Japan’s burgeoning offshore wind market. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry is expected to announce an official public auction for a Round 1 auction in support the country’s interim target of 10 GW by 2030 and 45 GW by 2040.

Just last year, Japan set new feed-in tariff rates for offshore wind that will result in large-scale offshore wind development at multiple sites during the next decade.

Commenting on the news, Gareth Lewis, RCG’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific (APAC) said:

“We see the Japan offshore wind market continue to blossom with more prefectures being recognised as excellent sites for development. Local utilities and trading houses, emerging IPPs and international developers are preparing themselves for upcoming auctions to secure seabed concessions and subsequent rights to develop multi gigawatt offshore wind sites. This has resulted in a greater need for specialist expert services.

Bannai-san brings a wealth of experience in operations, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), account management and project management as well as experience in the UK offshore wind market and power markets in South Korea and Columbia.

With Bannai on board, and the fact that we are already providing advisory services for numerous Japanese offshore wind projects, I foresee further acceleration of our impact on the Japan’s renewables market.” – Gareth Lewis, Managing Director APAC.

Before joining RCG, Mr Bannai most recently served with Sonnedix Japan overseeing EPC and operations and maintenance for several solar projects, including claim settlement. Before Sonnedix, Bannai was General Manager for Marubeni Power Systems Corp., a division of Marubeni Group, where he managed the execution of engineering, procurement and construction contracts for several offshore and onshore wind projects located in Europe and Asia.

RCG’s continued growth means the firm can deploy experienced local teams on any renewable energy engagement, backed up by a team of international experts, to deliver high-value market intelligence, management consulting and technical advisory services on any renewable energy assignment in the Asia-Pacific region.