Foreign, Power
By Ejenike Christabel
OFFSHORE wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in water bodies, usually shallow open water instead of land. Wind farms are found mostly at seas and oceans because there higher wind speed provides a sort of consistency in the wind speed of the wind turbines. Offshore wind power provides electricity using fixed-foundation wind turbines in relatively shallow water bodies
Offshore wind energy is growing very popular in overseas and is predicted to see massive growth/development in the coming years. According to a Japan report, the most popular energy sector at present is wind, this is evident in the Japan Wind Power Association, JWPA, that has surpassed a membership of 500 industries.
Reuters report said that Japan’s industry ministry said on Friday 10th December, 2021 that it had lunched a public auction to select an operator for the 356 megawatts, MW, offshore wind project the area of Happo Noshiro, off Akita prefecture in Northern Japan. The auction will run from Friday 10th of December 2021 until Friday June 10th 2022. Result of the auction will be announced in December.
Reports noted that the long gestation of the offshore wind industry means that when it comes to this decade, most progress will likely be made onshore. Today, wind turbines on land make up 99% of all installations. Onshore wind capacity could quadruple to about 16GW in 2030, while offshore capacity may only reach about 3.7 GW.
In the 2030s, that is expected to reverse with the government’s Green Growth Strategy calling for 30 to 45GW of offshore wind capacity, including floating projects to be awarded by 2040.
The key to how quickly offshore wind develops in Japan also rests with the update to infrastructure. An undersea power grid that could connect Hokkaido and other northern offshore wind farms to central Japan is the most prominent plan now under consideration. Initial cost estimates for the undersea project are due in the spring of 2022.
First published on – Feb. 24 2022 @ 17:59 GMT |
Tags: Japan Wind Power Association offshore
