An advanced spar floater built for the 14 MW Fukushima Forward floating wind farm demonstration project started its journey to the port of Sumoto, Awaji Island, on 2 May, where it will be connected to a 5 MW downwind turbine manufactured by Hitachi Ltd, and transported off Fukushima Prefecture for installation.
Following the mounting of the wind turbine to the 51-metre wide floater, the construction, named Fukushima Hamakaze, will be towed to the installation site on 1 July, according to Japan Marine United (JMU), a member of consortium behind the project.
The Fukushima Forward demonstration site comprises three floating wind turbines and one floating power substation situated off the coast of Fukushima.
A 2 MW turbine, Fukushima Mirai, and a 25MVA floating substation, Fukushima Kizuna, were installed at the site in 2013. A 7 MW turbine, Fukushima Shimpuu, was installed in July 2015.
The goal of the Fukushima Forward project is to establish a business-model and contribute to future commercialisation of floating wind farm projects.
Apart from JMU, the consortium behind the project includes Marubeni Corporation, the University of Tokyo, Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, Hitachi, Furukawa Electric, Shimizu, and Mizuho Information & Research.
The project is funded by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Offshore WIND Staff