Japan accelerates wind power development

Tokyo

WITH a month to go this fiscal year, Japan's installation of new wind power capacity in 2016-17 is set to come in almost double that of the previous 12 months, propelled by higher tariffs guaranteed by Tokyo and a rising number of offshore wind farms.

Japan is set to add 300 megawatts of wind capacity - enough to power more than 100,000 average homes - in the 12 months through March, Japan's Wind Power Association said in a study released late last month. Some 157 megawatts of wind power were installed in the previous year.