“uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç

Japan Wind Development Company (JWDC) is teaming up with Japanese shipbuilder Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding to form a joint venture company called MJ Wind Power Ichihara. JWDC owns 61% of the company, while Mitsui holds the remaining 39%. It is Mitsui's first involvement in the wind power generation business. The joint venture's first project is the installation and operation of a single GE Wind 1.5 MW turbine at one of Mitsui's manufacturing plants in Ichihara city in Chiba-Prefecture. The turbine is due online in the spring. Electricity generated will be sold to utility Tokyo Electric Power Company. JWDC has been listed on Tokyo's "Mothers" stock exchange for smaller companies since March 2003, the first public listing of a wind company in Japan. The company operates wind plant in Chiba Prefecture, Hokkaido, and Fukuoka Prefecture with a combined capacity of 19.5 MW. Its fortunes have changed significantly in the last 18 months. While it made a loss of ´13 million for the year ended March 2002, it made a ´95 million ($847,500) profit for the year ended March 2003. Its forecast for this financial year is even better, with an income of ´230 million expected by the end of March. MJ Wind Power Ichihara is projected to generate an annual revenue of ´5 billion by 2008, adds the company.