Japan's bid to install more floating offshore wind capacity may be bolstered by the government's commitment to support the technology.
The city of Goto, Nagasaki Prefecture, and Toda Corp., a Tokyo-based construction company, were picked by the Environment Ministry to study community acceptance and environmental impact on the construction of a wind farm, the ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
The company and the city have submitted plans to set up floating wind turbines around two islands with a combined capacity of 522 megawatts, according to the statement.
The ministry, which has set aside about ¥158 million ($1.3 million) for the study project to help local governments take a lead in wind projects for the year starting in April, also picked three other groups, according to the statement.
In Tohoku, Iwate Prefecture and the town of Hirono plan to work together to set up a 200-megawatt offshore wind farm, according to the statement. The ministry will also support a plan to build a 700-megawatt offshore wind farm off Kitakyushu. In both projects, turbines will be fixed to the bottom of the sea.
Tottori Prefecture and SB Energy Corp., a unit of SoftBank Corp., were also picked for their plan to build a 30-megawatt onshore wind farm, the statement said.
The nation has two floating offshore projects operating at the moment. Goto is home to a 2-megawatt floating wind turbine set up by a consortium led by Toda. Another 2-megawatt turbine is installed off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture as part of a project led by Marubeni Corp.