The Noshiro Port wind farm is part of a larger offshore wind project, which involves an investment of JPY100bn ($750m), and will have a total of 33 turbines with a capacity of 4.2MW each
Marubeni announces start of commercial operation at the Noshiro Port offshore wind farm. (Credit: Akita Offshore Wind Corporation)
Marubeni said that the 84MW Noshiro Port offshore wind farm, a part of the nearly 140MW Akita Noshiro offshore wind farm project in Japan, has commenced commercial operation based on the feed-in tariff (FIT) programme for renewable energy.
The Akita Noshiro offshore wind project is made up of the Akita and Noshiro offshore wind farms.
According to Marubeni, the 54.6MW Akita Port offshore wind farm is presently undergoing commissioning and its commercial operation based on FIT is anticipated in due course.
The Akita Noshiro offshore wind project involves an investment of JPY100bn ($750m). It is expected to be operated and maintained for 20 years by Akita Offshore Wind, which is a special purpose company involving 13 shareholders including Marubeni.
The two offshore wind farms are being implemented by Marubeni at the Akita Port and Noshiro Port in Akita Prefecture.
The other shareholders of Akita Offshore Wind are Obayashi, Kansai Electric Power, Chubu Electric Power, Cosmo Eco Power, Tohoku Electric Power, Akita Bank, Ohmori, Kanpu, Sawakigumi, Katokensetsu, Kyowa Oil, and Sankyo.
The construction activities for the offshore wind farm project commenced in February 2020.
In late September 2022, the installation of the last wind turbine at the Akita Port offshore wind farm was completed.
The Akita Noshiro offshore wind project consists of 33 wind turbines, with 20 at the Noshiro Port and 13 at the Akita Port.
The turbines were delivered by MHI Vestas under a contract signed in March 2022. MHI Vestas supplied its V117-4.2MW wind turbines for the project with each of them having a capacity of 4.2MW.
The electricity generated at the Japanese offshore wind project will be sold to Tohoku Electric Power Network for 20 years under a power purchase agreement (PPA).