Marubeni-led group to conduct offshore wind project study

A group led by Marubeni Corp. will install three floating offshore wind turbines off the coast of Fukushima by March 2016.

The turbines have a total capacity of 16 megawatts. 

This is part of the study under a contract from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, that the group won. It will also build a transmission substation.

The pilot project “will greatly contribute to the commercialization of large-size floating offshore wind farm technology,” the group said in the statement. The study is aimed at helping Japan become a major exporter of the technology for floating offshore turbines, it said.

Japan is targeting a capacity of about 1 gigawatt from floating offshore wind turbines, according to Masanori Sato, a trade ministry official in charge of promoting clean energy.

“There is growing expectation in Fukushima” to create jobs and start new businesses in clean energy, said Seiji Nishimura, a senior manager at Nippon Steel Corp., which is part of the group.

The trade ministry has set aside US$154 million as the ceiling for the initial stages of the study. Other participants in the project include and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,  Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. and the University of Tokyo.

Japan has cumulative wind power capacity of 2,522 megawatts, according to the Japan Power Wind Association.

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