TOKYO, April 11 (Reuters) - Japan has agreed to partner

with the United States to help reduce the cost of floating

offshore wind projects, the White House said in a statement

released during Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to

Washington to meet with President Joe Biden.

Under the agreement, Japan and the U.S. would work to

accelerate developments in engineering, manufacturing and other

areas related to floating wind farms, the statement said. Tokyo

would also contribute 120 billion yen ($784 million) to develop

floating wind technology via its Green Innovation Fund.

The United States has set a goal of installing 15 gigawatts

of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035 - enough to power

more than 5 million homes - to help displace fossil fuel for

power generation and fight climate change.

The U.S. plan also calls for cutting the cost of floating

offshore wind installations operating in deep waters by more

than 70% to $45 per megawatt-hour over the next decade. Floating

wind power installations are typically bigger and costlier than

bottom-fixed structures.

Floating offshore wind is relatively new in Japan, where

state auctions for offshore wind farms have so far involved only

bottom-fixed installations.

Last month, Japanese energy companies including Mitsubishi

Corp's ( MSBHF ) wind power unit, Tokyo Gas ( TKGSF ) and JERA

teamed-up to jointly develop floating offshore wind technology

to help Japan reach its renewable energy goals.

($1 = 153.1000 yen)