No. 33: Growing popularity of offshore wind farming in Asia (January 2, 2012)

Business trend

The offshore wind farming market is estimated to grow nearly three times in 2015 over the level in 2011. Since Denmark launched offshore wind farming in the 1990s, Europe has been taking the initiative in this business. Following Europe, Asian countries have grown serious about introducing offshore wind farming. Because wind farming creates lots of supporting industries, companies with advanced technology are asked to explore business opportunities.

J-PowerSystems and Sumitomo Corp. jointly got an order for the laid down of undersea power cable between an isolated island and the main island of Taiwan that stretches 350 km for 32 billion yen, beating JS Cable of Korea in the international tender. J-Power Systems will build the power cable in Japan, and Sumitomo Corp. will undertake the laid down and civil engineering work. A total of six cables, each of which is 15 cm in diameter, will be laid down. Offshore wind farming is expected to grow more popular as a renewable energy source in Japan, China, and Southeast Asian countries.