JAPAN OCEAN ENERGY: Taking advantage of remote islands surrounded by large areas of ocean

Goto City has developed an extensive renewable energy plan, with a mission of “Islands of Energy – Energizing the town by producing energy.” By maximizing its natural resources, it is planning to cover 132.4 percent of its total energy needs (oil, gas and electricity) with renewable energy by 2030. “With the population decline and aging, we fear to become a disappearing community,” Kazuyuki Kitagawa, a spokesperson for the Goto City Renewable Energy Promotion Department, said. “Exceeding our energy self-sufficiency level is not our ultimate goal. It is one of the solutions to stimulate our local economy by creating local employment and industry for years to come. We are aiming at locally producing and exporting renewable energy.” In 2012, renewable energy provided 4.4 percent of the city’s total energy consumption, producing 97,189 gigajoules (Gj) per year, the equivalent of 27 GWh per year. Of 27 GWh, 88.5 percent was provided mostly by onshore wind power. “By taking advantage of our remote islands surrounded by large areas of ocean, we will put priorities on developing ocean energy,” Kitagawa said.

 

Read Source: Japan: Goto City Aims to Become ‘Islands of Energy’ by Harnessing Offshore Wind

September 30, 2015

By Junko Movellan, Correspondent
 http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2015/09/japan-goto-city-aims-to-become-islands-of-energy-by-harnessing-offshore-wind.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WindPowerrssFeed+%28REW+Wind+Power%C2%A0RSS+Feed%29