2015.03.26
Installed capacity of wind power generation at the end of 2014: 2,788 MW, 1,971 units
JWPA announces the installed capacity of wind power generation in Japan as of the end of December 2014 and the estimated data for FY2014 (as of the end of March 2015). They are surveyed by the JWPA.
Cumulative installed capacity at the end of December, 2014
= 2,788 MW, 1,971 units, 418 sites
Net new installation for 2014 (January-December)
= 119 MW, 47 units, 2 sites
Estimated cumulative installed capacity at the end of FY 2014 (end of March 2015)
= 2,922 MW, 2,031 units, 428 sites
Estimated net new installation for FY 2014 (April 2014 – March 2015)
= 215 MW, 97 units, 14 sites
The old initial subsidies system had been terminated in FY2010, and the new feed-in tariff (FIT) system was introduced in July 2012. Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) had offered 22 JPY (without tax) / kWh for large-scale (more than 20kW) wind power. This price has been kept the same until FY2015. And METI has newly offered 36 JPY (without tax) / kWh for offshore wind power since FY2014.
On the other hand, strict environmental impact assessment (EIA) had applied for all wind farms over 10MW since Oct. 2012. It takes about 4 years to complete this EIA process. Therefore, the new installation for past three years (2012 -2014) have become ultra-low level, compared with world levels.
As of November 2014, 6.23 GW of wind power projects are in the pipe line (under EIA process) mainly at northern rural regions in Japan (Hokkaido and Tohoku). It seems to be take further 2-7 years for these projects to start operation.
The next hurdle is luck of grid infrastructures. Few people live in Hokkaido and Tohoku and the electricity demand at these regions are also small. Then, local electric power companies hesitated to accept large amount of wind power and set upper limit for grid connection. It might be improved if Japanese electric power system reform realizes and new grid-operator starts sending electricity inter-regionally.
The installed capacities by fiscal year, including the estimated data for FY2014 are listed below;
FY Cumulative installed capacity Increased installed capacity in the year
MW Number of units MW Number of units
2009 2,186 1,681 304 148
2010 2,475 1,829 289 148
2011 2,556 1,867 81 38
2012 2,641 1,913 86 46
2013 2,707 1,934 66 21
2014 2,922 2,031 215 97（estimate)
Click the link below for the graph of installed capacity since 2005
JapanWindPowerInstallation2014.pdf
