Wind power in Japan

Turbines at the Nunobiki Plateau Wind Farm, one of the largest wind farms in Japan with 33 turbines

In Japan's electricity sector wind power generates a small but increasing proportion of the country's electricity, as the installed capacity has been growing in recent years. According to industry observers, the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents are pushing wind power to the forefront as a safer and more reliable alternative to meet the country's future electricity requirements.[1][2] None of Japan's commercial wind turbines, totaling over 2300 MW in nameplate capacity, failed as a result of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, including the Kamisu offshore wind farm directly hit by the tsunami.[3]

Wind turbine near Kōtō, Tokyo

It has been estimated that Japan has the potential for 144 GW for onshore wind and 608 GW of offshore wind capacity.[4]

Notable projects

The Shin Izumo Wind Farm owned by Eurus Energy is the largest wind farm in Japan as of 2011, comprising 26 turbines with a total nameplate capacity of 78 megawatts.[5]

As of September 2011, Japan plans to build a pilot floating wind farm, with six 2-megawatt turbines, off the Fukushima coast.[6] After the evaluation phase is complete in 2016, "Japan plans to build as many as 80 floating wind turbines off Fukushima by 2020."[6]

In 2013, a floating offshore wind turbine was tested about 1 km off the coast of the island of Kabajima in Nagasaki Prefecture. It was a part of a Japanese government test project.[7] This was the first of its kind in Japan.

Statistics

In 2015, Japan's historical installed wind power capacity in megawatts (MW) was:[8]

1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
2000
2005
2010
2015
Total Capacity – Cumulative installed wind power capacity in megawatts since 2000
Year Capacity Change % Change
2000 136
2001 302 166 122.06%
2002 338 36 11.92%
2003 580 242 71.60%
2004 809 229 39.48%
2005 1,049 240 29.67%
2006 1,309 260 24.79%
2007 1,538 229 17.49%
2008 1,882 344 22.37%
2009 2,186 304 16.15%
2010 2,475 289 13.22%
2011 2,556 81 3.27%
2012 2,641 86 3.33%
2013 2,715 73 2.8%
2014 2,921 214 7.59%
2015 3,167 246 8.42%

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ivan Castano (12 April 2011). "Nuclear Woes Boost Japanese Wind but Supply Remains Limited". Renewable Energy World.
  2. ↑ Associated Press (10 May 2011). "Japan to scrap nuclear power in favour of renewables". The Guardian. London.
  3. ↑ Wood, Elisa (2011-05-25). "The Dangers of Energy Generation". Renewable Energy World. Archived from the original on 2011-06-03.
  4. ↑ Watanabe, Chisaki (2014-02-27). "GE Says Japan Has More Potential to Harness Wind Power". Bloomberg.
  5. ↑ "May 21, 2009 - Japan's largest-ever Wind Farm completed". Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation. 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
  6. 1 2 "Japan Plans Floating Wind Power Plant". Breakbulk. 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
  7. ↑ "Project tests viability of offshore floating wind turbines," Japan Times. 4 April 2013; retrieved 2013-4-30.
  8. ↑ "Japan". Japan Wind Energy Association. March 2009. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
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