Japan intends to triple its wind power generation capacity to 7.5 million kW by developing power transmission grids in the Hokkaido and the Tohoku regions.
The country is likely to have 50GW of wind-generated clean electricity by 2050, accounting for more than 10% of the nation’s demand, according to the Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA).
The regions of Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku, Sanin, and Kyushu are believed to be suitable areas for wind energy generation, reports EcoSeed.
Electric utilities Hokkaido Electric Power and Tohoku Electric Power have already constructed power lines to connect wind-generation sites with existing transmission lines.
The Japanese government aims to cover the costs of constructing power transmission grids under a 10-year project, which is scheduled to be launched in April 2013.
According to an estimate, public and private sectors will spend about JPY310bn ($3.2bn) on the transmission grids project.