Alstom has been awarded a contract to supply and supervise the installation and commissioning of 29 units of the ECO 74 wind turbines. Each wind turbine will have an output of 1.67MW and will be equipped with 70m towers. The wind farm is estimated to be fully operational in 2016. The wind farm will have a capacity of 48MW and a projected annual output of 85 million kWh, enough to supply approximately 23,600 households.
The Alstom wind turbines are equipped with the Alstom Pure Torque® design which shifts bending loads directly to the tower, and allows for higher reliability of the drive train and reduced operation and maintenance costs over the wind turbine’s lifetime. Alstom has adapted its turbine with seismic towers to improve availability in view of Japan’s seismic activity. In spite of strong typhoons that attack the country 3-5 times a year, Alstom’s previously installed wind turbines have not been affected.
“We are delighted to be given the opportunity to further contribute to the development of renewable energy in Japan. This new contract is a true recognition of our technology and expertise and further demonstrates Alstom’s ability to adapt to local constraints” said Alfonso Faubel, Senior Vice President, Wind.
Once this new contract for wind turbine delivery is completed, Alstom will have provided 100MW of wind power installed capacity in the country. This new project follows the on-going Higashi Izu II and Kawazu wind farms.
With its limited domestic energy sources, coupled with huge demand from its population exceeding 127 million people, Japan relies for 80% of its energy supply on foreign sources. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and in order to diversify its energy sources, the Japanese government has recently increased focus for energy generation from renewable sources like solar, wind and biomass power. In 2012, renewable energy generation capacity increased by 2.08 million kilowatts, supported by the implementation of Feed-In Tariff system. Japan aims to grow its wind capacity to over 11 GW by 2020 to over 50 GW by 2050.