Tokyo Gas Co will install 19 offshore wind turbines near the eastern Japan coast from 2024 as the government moves toward its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the gas and power utility company has said.
The wind turbines will be located in waters near the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture, and generate a maximum of 159.6 megawatts, enough renewable energy to supply 70,000 households annually, the company said. The project's start date has yet to be decided.
The 680-hectare wind farm, to be built close to the coast up to 1.6 kilometers from Kashima Port, is also funded by Wind Power Group Co, based in Ibaraki Prefecture, and Vena Energy Holdings Ltd, a renewable energy company in Singapore.
"We aim to lead the growth of renewable energy, which will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society," Tokyo Gas President Takashi Uchida said in a press release.
Uchida said his company is committed to a stable power supply by balancing output fluctuation in power generated by renewable energy with gas-fired power generation, its core business.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has said going green will be a key driver of growth for Japan, the world's third-largest economy and fifth-biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, vowing to build offshore wind farms and invest in technologies to produce hydrogen fuel using renewable energy.
The government has set a goal of raising its offshore wind power generation to up to 45 gigawatts in 2040 from a mere 20,000 kilowatts at present.
