Okhotsk Sea Renewable Energy Options for Japan’s Energy Import Diversification

Abstract

In the end of 2010s decade Japan has declared a new policy direction to build a hydrogen energy based society. It should be a major component in full decarbonization strategy by 2050 in the framework of the Paris Greenhouse Agreement reached in 2015. Japan’s economy is highly dependent on imports, especially in energy sector. Diversification of Japan’s energy import represents a major problem, discussed in the article. In the same time significant renewable energy resources could be found just nearby at the Russia’s part of the Sea of Okhotsk. The article views on the Sea of Okhotsk tidal energy potential, and background for the growth of hydrogen production and exports from Russian Far East using tidal energy. The authors consider both advantages and disadvantages of construction of Tugurskaya and Penzhinskaya tidal power plants on the Sea of Okhotsk coast. The work analyses the expected electricity production from Tugurskaya and Penzhinskaya tidal power plants, their possibilities to supply internal and neighboring East Asian market, and evaluates their opportunities to produce hydrogen through water electrolysis. The conclusion is that these tidal power plants can generate up to 4.2 million tons of hydrogen annually that would cover a significant part of the Japan’s demand for hydrogen.