Japan wants to triple wind power capacity

The target is 7.5 million kilowatts by 2023.

This total will come from developing transmission grids in Hokkaido and the Tohoku region. To be launched this April, the project will cost Japan some US$4.1 billion. Hokkaido and Tohoku are among the most suitable locations for wind power generation because of their strong winds.

Japan considers wind a key source for increasing the proportion of renewable energy since it can generate a great deal of power at one site. It is also cheaper than solar and geothermal power.

The government estimates that wind power generation cost just about 10 yen per kilowatt hour as of 2010, almost the same as thermal power generation by liquefied natural gas.

Wind-generated power in Japan came to only 179.6 million kilowatt hours in fiscal 2011, which is less than 0.1% of the nation's total power production.

The government hopes that building transmission grids to increase the supply capacity of electricity generated by wind power will help achieve a desirable balance within the energy supply.