Japan to develop grid for wind integration

JAPAN: The Japanese government has launched a project to improve integration of country's increasing wind and solar capacity.

The project aims at smoothing power supply

The five-year project will receive JPY 15 billion ($146 million) and is aimed at smoothing supply from the grid with more power from less consistent power sources.

Central to the plans laid out by government body the New Energy Development Organisation (NEDO) will be a wind-power output-prediction service. It will use a sophisticated wind forecasting system to make more accurate decisions on when to ramp up or down power production from conventional plants.

Data from Japanese wind farms will be collated and analysed as part of the project in order to calibrate the system.

NEDO said that it will draw on experiences of Spain in setting up a similar system that has had success in integrating a high proportion of wind into the grid.

One of the factors that has meant Japan has lagged behind other developed nations in the installation of wind projects is a lack of capacity on the grid and a lack of information on grid availability. The project will look at measures to address these issues.

The government announced last September that it is planning financial support for companies to develop grid networks in the windy north of the country in order to allow the development of more wind projects.

Japan has recently made moves to develop offshore wind projects, largely based on floating foundations due to the lack of continental shelf off Japan's coast, and will have to develop the grid for the integration of any large-scale projects.