Japan has set its sights on the intensive development of wind power, including offshore farms. Last year, Japan’s wind power industry reached an operational capacity of 5 GW.
These are preliminary figures compiled by the Japan Wind Energy Association, which CIRE.co.uk discusses. It is worth noting that Japan has six traditional offshore wind power plants and two floating wind farms.
Another 10 GW of installations are expected to be built by 2030. In the next decade – that is, by 2040 – their capacity is expected to reach 40 GW.
It’s worth noting that this rapid development of offshore wind is taking place under unfavorable natural conditions. Deep coastal waters cause significant difficulties for the construction of traditional windmills, which translates into the need for investment in floating power plants. On top of this, all installations must be resistant to typhoons and earthquakes.
Overall, Japan’s entire wind power sector had as much as 153.5 megawatts of installed capacity at the end of last year.
