A group led by Marubeni Corp. is setting up a floating wind turbine off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, aiming to commercialize the unproven technology and create an industry in the region ravaged by the 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear calamities.
The 11-member group plans this month to tow a turbine made by Hitachi Ltd. and mounted to a semisubmersible structure from a dock near Tokyo, said Takahide Soeda, an official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The 2-megawatt turbine, funded by the central government, is expected to start running in mid-October.