A wind turbine, named Fukushima Mirai, is seen about 20 kilometers off the coast of Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture. Japan switched on the first turbine at the wind farm on Monday, feeding electricity to the grid tethered to the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant onshore.
© Japan TodayWind power for Fukushima
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sengoku38
Are they going to replace this every year after it gets damaged by typhoons?
Ekkusaito
@sengoku38 It is an experimental 2MW turbine to test the safety (including ability to withstand typhoons), reliability and performance. If successful they plan to expand to 16MW.
pointofview
Some swells must reach the top of that.
cleo
It floats, and so will ride out the swells.
kurisupisu
One wind turbine , why is this making news???
Star-viking
In theory. There are a number of cases of floating rigs like this one sinking.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_L._Kielland_(platform)
The Japanese Coast Guard has an interesting document wich covers the sea conditions experienced around Japan:
http://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/syoukai/soshiki/toudai/navigation-safety/japan%20coastal%20navigation%20safety%20reference/english.pdf
It includes information on chopping waves which can sink large ships, and reports on waves which can reach 13 metres high.
However, I'm sure these have been incorporated into the design, so I'll wait and see the results.
sf2k
hydrothermal, using the colder temperature of the water underneath the waves would present less maintenance and also provide energy savings. Tubes are tied down under the waves so reduced issues with typhoons.
Yeah, another chance to mention Deep Lake Water Cooling in my hometown. But Japan would excel since salt water holds more energy than fresh. Use solar in winter and deep ocean water cooling in summer and that would be awesome.