Japanese wind power development dived in 2011

New wind power installations in Japan fell to 82-MW in fiscal 2011 (ending March 2012), less than a third of the total installed in FY2010 according to the results of a new survey released by the Japan Wind Power Association.

The Association says this dramatic slowdown came about as a result of wind project investors and developer waiting until the Japanese government implements a new renewable energy feed-in-tariff (FiT) system, which is scheduled for July this year.

Estimates put Japan’s cumulative installed wind power capacity at the end of FY2012 will be 2.52-GW, falling well short of the Japanese government target of having 3-GW installed by the end of FY2010.