Japanese Consortium to Build Offshore Wind Farm
A consortium of ten companies led by Hitachi Zosen Corporation (Hitz) has been awarded the bid to develop the “Iwafune Offshore Wind Farm Project” in Murakami City, Niigata prefecture.
The award is the result of a public bidding held by Murakami City’s project promotion committee, chaired by the city’s mayor, Hiramasa Otaki, says a press statement.
The project will use 44 5MW turbines developed by Hitachi, with a total power generating capacity of 220MW. The 5MW turbine is the most powerful commercially available turbine in Japan at present, and it is anticipated the project could produce 670GWh annually.
Murakami City consider the Iwafune Offshore Wind Farm Project as having the potential to help to stimulate the local economy, including enhancing of its tourism product, while at the same time contribute to mitigating the effects of global warming.
The project promotion committee was therefore set up in November 2014 to oversee smooth implementation. A feasibility study now underway targets 2,700 hectares of sea, with 10 to 35 meters of water depth, in the Iwafune offshore area, some 2 kilometers off the coast of Murakami City.
The consortium has begun technical and commercial planning for 44 bottom-mounted offshore wind turbines, each with a capacity of 5,000 kW for a total of approximately 220,000kW. Based on the results of the feasibility study, a Special Purpose Company (SPC) will be established in FY2015, with manufacturing of equipment scheduled to start in FY2020. Operations are set to start in FY2024.
