Asia Report: The Dawn of Japan's Offshore Wind Era

Renewable Energy World Editors
July 16, 2012 | 4 Comments

While solar is currently making the biggest renewable waves in Japan, the country is also moving quickly toward offshore wind, with the recent announcement that an offshore wind demonstration project would begin producing electricity by January.

According to GWEC, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry’s 2.4-MW wind turbines off the coast of Choshi will test operation in severe weather conditions, including typhoons, strong gusts and high turbulence. A similar project is also scheduled for 2012 in the Sea of Japan near Fukuoka City.

The Japanese government has also approved two offshore floating projects that will tap into strong resource in the deep coastal waters. According to Reuters, Japan has 1,600 gigawatts of offshore wind potential, nearly four times larger than the nation’s nuclear capacity prior to Fukushima.

HOT TOPIC - ASIA

Videos from Intersolar North America 2012 in San Francisco

IN THE NEWS

The Disappearance of Dozens of Chinese Solar Companies: The bankruptcies of roughly two dozen U.S. and European photovoltaic manufacturers have framed much of the story about an oversupply of solar panels and crashing prices over the past year. What's less known is the impact on the PV manufacturing industry in China, where over 50 companies also have closed, said John Lefebvre, president of Suntech Power's American operations, during Intersolar in San Francisco on Wednesday.

U.N. Recognizes India Hydro Project: India's 1,000-MW Karcham Wangtoo hydroelectric project has been registered under the Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The U.N.'s CDM is an initiative intended to prevent climate change and comply with emissions standards dictated by the Kyoto Protocol. The facility, which is located on the Sutlej River in Himachal Pradesh, is one of the largest hydro plants to ever receive CDM designation, according to operator Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd.

Clean Energy Investment in China on Rise: Investment in clean energy rose 24 percent to $56.9 billion in the second quarter compared with the first, led by a surge in expenditure in China, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said. Spending in China jumped 92 percent in the period to $18.3 billion as several large solar photovoltaic parks and wind farms secured hundreds of millions of dollars in financing.

Chinese Wind Turbine Maker May Bid for Vestas: China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd, the New York-listed wind turbine manufacturer, is considering acquiring Vestas Wind System, a maker of wind turbines, according to a source with knowledge of the deal. "Ming Yang will offer 1.4 to 1.5 billion euros ($1.72 billion to $1.97 billion) to buy the Danish company," said the source, who declined to be named.

The Power to Change: In the village of Sanno — population 42 — the Fukushima crisis prompted residents to adopt a new energy strategy, and now the aging village is the nation’s first to be powered solely by renewable energy.

ON THE HORIZON

China Testing World’s Largest Hydro Turbine: China began testing an 800-megawatt hydro turbine that has the biggest unit capacity in the world after completing its installation, Xinhua reported, citing an unidentified spokesman of China Three Gorges Corp.

Plotting Indonesia’s Path to Geothermal Dominance: WWF Indonesia launched a report that mapped out the country’s geothermal resources in a bid to promote the use of alternative energy sources. The report, titled “Igniting the Ring of Fire: A Vision to Develop Indonesia’s Geothermal Power,” said Indonesia had the world’s biggest geothermal potential as the country sat on the world’s most active volcanic belt, the Ring of Fire, which frames the Pacific Ocean.

India Biomass Deal: Ruchi Soya Industries Limited, maker of Edible Oil, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding jointly with the Pune-based Thermax Limited in order to establish 1 MW fluidized bed biomass gasification facility.

Rice to Power in Philippines: DP CleanTech, a Chinese biomass and waste-to-energy business, won a contract to build a 12-MW facility in the Philippines that will use rice husk, rice straw and woodchips to produce power.

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4 Comments

John Moes
July 26, 2012

Transmission lines over land are on towers kept wide open to the wind. Put a VAWT on each tower and some where along the line the wind will be blowing. The average output will be steadier than a wind farm.

Tom Lakosh
July 26, 2012

If you use VAWTs they are less subject to damage from wave motions due to the low center of gravity and location of the critical machinery near the waterline where the structure accelerations are minimal. The ability to closely space the VAWTs due to symbiotic schooling effect and short wake effect also allows these turbines to be ganged together by steel cables that hydrokinetic devices can be mounted on as well for optimization of: materials use; energy harvesting per unit area, and; the capacity factor for transmission lines. The ganged turbines can be towed out to pre-positioned anchors in deeper water for rapid deployment between the storms that are prevalent at the preferred wind farm sites.

John Moes
July 19, 2012

Every off-shore wind turbine should also have a wave-powered generator feeding its transmission line. The stabilizers for the floating units should be able to harness some of the energy of the waves in the process of controlling them.

Minwoo Kim
July 16, 2012

Japan's FiT in July is among the highest in the world. It's clear that Japan's FiT will shake the renewable energy market. New solutions will be showed in Japan. This is it!
Floating Wind Turbine is one of the best solutions for Japan. Japan has more install places around its shores than any other in the world. But they have to reduce vibration to install Floating Wind Turbines on the sea. Because, it makes many kinds of problems! Vibration’s caused by wind, waves and external forces. New Floating Body Stabilizer for Floating Wind Turbines has been created in South Korea. The Floating Body Stabilizers generate drag force immediately when Floating Wind Turbines are being rolled and pitched on the water. Recently, this Floating Body Stabilizers have been used to reduce vibration of Floating Solar Panels in South Korea. You can see New Floating Body Stabilizer videos in YouTube. http://youtu.be/O2oys_YHhCc, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA_xFp5ktbU&feature=youtu.be.

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