Tokyo Gas starts joint evaluation of Fukushima offshore wind project

Japan’s Tokyo Gas 9531.T and Shinobuyama Fukushima Power Co have started to evaluate a floating wind power project off the coast of Fukushima, Tokyo Gas said on Friday, as Japan seeks to replace lost nuclear power facilities.

Japan has accelerated its switch to renewable energy after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power station disaster forced it to shut down the most of its nuclear reactors in a major rethink of the country’s energy mix.

The joint environmental assessment with Shinobuyama Fukushima Power will discuss the project with residents, local authorities and fishermen, Tokyo Gas said.

The floating wind power plant would have annual capacity of 30,000 kilowatts and use the technology of U.S. floating platform company Principle Power, which has already been adopted on wind power stations operating in Portugal and Scotland.