Japanese company JERA has filed an environmental impact statement for the proposed 520MW offshore wind farm in the Ishikari Bay, Hokkaido, Japan.
JERA, which submitted the documents to the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry on Monday said it believed Ishikari Bay to be suitable for the development of bottom-fixed offshore wind power generation due to its favorable wind conditions, shallow seabed, and the spare capacity of the nearby power grid.
The planned offshore wind power generation project will be located at least 2.5km offshore from the cities of Ishikari and Otaru and include as many as 65 8MW wind turbines with a maximum generation capacity of 520MW. The number of wind turbines could be lower if JERA elected to use larger capacity turbines.
To mitigate the impact on the power system of fluctuations in wind power generation output, the project envisages the installation of an energy storage system.
"As JERA aims to become a global leader in renewable energy, it has participated in offshore wind projects in the U.K. and Taiwan. JERA will apply its experiences and expertise in the construction and operation of such large-scale offshore wind projects to the current project," JERA said. The construction of the wind farm is expected to take 36 months to complete.
While it is still early in the process, Offshore Engineer reached out to JERA hoping to get some information on the tentative start-up date of the wind farm.
A JERA spokesperson said:"...We cannot answer specifically. To construct an offshore wind project in Japan, the relevant area be specified as a promotion area by the government and the developer will be determined through the bidding process. This Ishikari area has not been selected as the area yet, but as we believe Ishikari is suitable for the offshore wind business, we decided to proceed EIS process in advance."
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