JAPAN TO FLOAT WIND

Post-Fukushima, Japan Looks To Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Mark Del Franco, 9 April 2013 (North American Windpower)

“The Environment Ministry of Japan will begin installing two floating offshore wind turbines this summer as a way to help diversify the country's generation [and eventually make a major contributor to Japan's energy mix] in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster…Post-Fukushima, Japan is spending approximately $100 million each day on liquid natural gas…to replace the turned-off nuclear power…

“Over the next two years, the Japanese government will…[incrementally test] three additional types of floating turbine technology. The best-performing turbine type may then be chosen to power a larger offshore wind farm - up to 1,000 MW - located off the Fukushima coastline…[Success] could catalyze the creation of a new market for floating turbines…”

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“…[Success is not] a given…[T]here are only two full-scale offshore wind projects in the world that feature floating wind turbines…[T]he Fukushima project represents a huge impact on the learning curve… [but] Japan is not likely to replicate the lessons learned from the two existing full-scale floating offshore wind projects, located in Norway (from Statoil) and Portugal (Principle Power)…[That] could be a mistake…[M]issing the lessons learned from these earlier projects could place Japan several years behind…and a failed project could have a devastating impact on the entire market globally.

“…In December 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded up to $4 million each for seven projects to complete the engineering, design and permitting phases of offshore wind farms, three of which will feature floating turbine foundations. The DOE…[aims] to achieve commercial operation by 2017…If floating offshore wind foundations prove viable - particularly in water depths greater than 400 feet - the technology may have the potential to reduce a wind farm's installation costs…[In the deep waters off of the U.S. West Coast], offshore wind farms will only be viable with the use of floating foundations…”

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