Japanese Consortium Plan 80MW Offshore Wind Farm

Offshore engineering firm Kita-Nihon Kaiji Kogyo is leading a group of three companies planning to build the first offshore wind farm in Japan’s Aomori prefecture.

The 80MW project will cost ¥30bn ($306.4m), according to local media reports.

The plant will be situated about 1km off the port of Mutsu-Ogawara, near the town of Rokkasho, and will feature 32 turbines.

A Kita-Nihon Kaiji Kogyo spokesperson declined to reveal which manufacturer will supply the 2.5MW machines.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2016, with operations to start in 2018. The electricity will be sold to regional utility Tohoku Electric Power under Japan’s feed-in tariff (FIT) system.