Japan Press Weekly

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2018 September 5 - 11 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP parliamentarians inspect Fukushima offshore wind facility

Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers Kasai Akira, Iwabuchi Tomo, and Yamazoe Taku on September 6 visited an offshore wind power facility in Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture.

The power plant in question was constructed in 2011 by the Ministry of Economy and Industry as a test facility. Located 20 kilometers off the coast of Fukushima, three wind turbines are in operation. Using the facility, the ministry is accumulating data regarding ways to maintain offshore wind power and what impact it could have on the fishery industry.

After the on-site inspection, Kasai, who is the JCP Policy Commission Chair, noted that more and more ocean-based wind farms have been built across the globe as they are stable source of energy which may also solve the issue of low-frequency wave and other problems pertaining to the land-based wind energy production. Kasai, however, said, “This visit gave me a greater understanding of offshore wind power generation. I found that the promotion of offshore wind energy needs to satisfy several requirements, including the safety navigation of shipping and coexistence with fishing operations. The METI should made public the study results and the problems that need to be fixed.”

Kasai mentioned that it is also necessary to create rules regarding the long-term use of sea areas by offshore wind operators and set up a framework for communications between plant operators and local fishermen.