Japan joins offshore wind big league as pioneering Akita & Noshiro hits water

Akita prefecture, Oct 12 (rechargenews.com) - Japan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is fully in the water in a milestone for the Asian nation’s energy transition.

All 33 Vestas 4.2MW are in place at the 140MW Akita & Noshiro project off Akita prefecture, the first deployment of a major array in a nation that has so far seen only small-scale pilot deployments off its coasts.

The project was built under an earlier Japanese scheme to support development of offshore wind in ports areas.

The nation has since started a programme of large-scale tendering designed to help the country achieve some of the world’s most ambitious offshore wind targets, including allocating 10GW by 2030 and installing up to 45GW by 2040. ...continue reading