Japanese construction company Toda Corp and its partners said on Friday that the startup of the Goto offshore wind power project in southern Japan will be delayed by 2 years to January 2026 due to defects in a floating structure.

The delay will mean a setback to Japan's efforts to increase renewable energy to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and help combat climate change.

Toda, along with Japan Renewable Energy, Osaka Gas, Inpex, Kansai Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, initially aimed to start commercial operation of the 16.8 megawatts (MW) wind farm in January 2024, but the construction process was delayed due to defects, they said.

Toda, which oversees the construction operations of the project in Nagasaki prefecture, said in May that defects were found in two floating structures at an onshore yard.

Toda has restarted construction after investigating the causes and taking corrective measures for the issues, but it plans to conduct inspections of a floating structure already installed to verify the existence of defects, they said in a statement. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )