The new floating 5-MW Hitachi HTW 126, on the way to its final site off the Fukushima coast.

On July 8,(click here) the 5-MW Hitachi HTW 5.0-126 wind turbine, mounted on a floating platform, has been successfully sited off the coast of Fukushima prefecture. The turbine is one of three and the final piece of the “Fukushima Forward”-floating offshore wind farm demonstrator[1], an experimental research project financed with around JPY53bn (ca. EUR477m) by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The project is part of the overall project to reconstruct and recover the affected areas damaged by the earthquake 2011, which focuses on renewable energy as a pillar for its recovery.

The Fukushima Forward wind farm is currently the world largest. The successful finalization of the flagship project received worldwide attention and reinforced Japan’s position as a global leader in this sector. According to METI, the turbine's rated capacity of 5 MW will make it the second largest capacity in the world behind the 7 MW already installed in the Fukushima Forward project.

Alas, no mention of JERA Power.

Fukushima Forward Consortium
Marubeni	Project coordinator, responsible for initial feasibility studies, licensing, O&M and liaising with regional fishing
University of Tokyo	Technical adviser, responsible for measurements, predictions, navigational safety and public relations
Mitsubishi	Overseas grid integration and EIA
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries	Designed V-shaped submersible floater, supplier of 7 MW SeaAngel turbine in phase II
Japan Marine United	Co-designed 66kV floating substation and advanced spar floater
Mitsui Engineering &	Designed compact semi-submersible floater for first turbine
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal	Supplied advanced steel
Hitachi	Supplied 2 MW and 5 MW turbine, co-designed 66kV floating substation
Furukawa Electric	Supplied undersea and dynamic cables
Shimizu	Responsible for oceanic surveys and construction technologies
Mizuho Information and Research Institute	Responsible for documentation and committee operations