2011.03.16
Damage to wind turbines by the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes off the Pacific Coast of Japan:
As of the end of December 2010, 407 wind farms consisting 1,742 wind turbine generators with a total capacity of 2,303,928 kW have been installed in Japan. JWPA conducted telephone surveys on 199 wind farms (48.9%) consisting 1,150 wind turbine generators (66.0%) with a total capacity of 1,695,170 kW (73.6%) owned by members of the JWPA with regard to the damage caused by the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes off the Pacific Coast. The results of the surveys are as following:
*The survey of local governments and private parties who are not members of JWPA was not conducted due to the inaccessibility of the contacts.
No wind power generation system owned by members of JWPA was out of order because of the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes.
All wind turbine generators in the areas affected by the earthquakes automatically stopped operation after activation of the earthquake vibration sensors and the failure of the grid connections. As soon as the patrol and the inspection of the facilities were completed, wind power generation plants in the affected area sequentially resumed operation to supply electric power.
