First Vestas Nacelles Reach Akita Port in Japan

The first shipment of nacelles and blades for the 140 MW Akita Noshiro offshore wind farm has reached Akita Port in Japan.

A SAL ship carrying 17 nacelles and 30 blades arrived from the Port of Esbjerg in Denmark to Akita Port on Friday, 24 December.

This is the second shipment of wind turbine components to arrive at the port for Japan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm.

Earlier this month, a ship transported tower components from Taicang Port in China to Akita.

The remaining turbine components will be shipped to the Akita Port gradually and in time for the start of turbine installation scheduled for Spring 2022, Akita Offshore Wind Corporation, the developer of the project, said.

The project comprises 20 Vestas V117 – 4.2 MW wind turbines to be installed off Noshiro Port, and 13 Vestas units off Akita Port.

Seajacks Zaratan installed the final monopile foundation for the project in September.

Eneti’s jack-up will also install the wind turbines at the wind farms next Spring.

The two wind farms are scheduled to be operational in 2022 and have a 20-year power purchase agreement with Tohoku Electric Power for the entire output.

The Akita Noshiro project is being developed by a consortium led by Marubeni which also includes Obayashi Corporation, Tohoku Sustainable & Renewable Energy, Cosmo Eco Power, The Kansai Electric Power, Chubu Electric Power, The Akita Bank, Ohmori, Sawakigumi Corporation, Kyowa Oil, Katokensetsu, Kanpu, and Sankyo.

Kajima Corporation is the project’s EPCI contractor.