Japanese wind generation plant goes to Thailand.

Japan Wind Development, Japan’s third largest wind generation company, will build a large-scale wind plant with an output of 180,000 kW in Thailand. The company will extend its know-how to the construction and give maintenance service after the plant is built. The new power plant will be built on the prairie 150 meters above sea level in eastern part of Thailand. The total investment will be about 40 billion yen, 20-40% of which will be paid by Japan Wind Development. The construction work will start in 2012 and part of the plant will be put into operation in 2013. As Japan’s biggest wind plant has an output of less than 80,000 kW, the plant to be built in Thailand is far bigger than the Japan’s biggest. It is also being planned to introduce a storage battery to stabilize the transmission amount. All electricity generated by the plant will be supplied to Thai power companies. In addition to the fee for providing technology, Japan Wind Development will receive profits coming from selling electricity on a pro-rata basis. Since Japan is a mountainous country, it is increasingly hard to find suitable places for wind generation, and wind generation is subject to environmental assessment. Actually, Japan Wind Development recorded a deficit of 2,200 million in 2009 due to the sluggish domestic wholesale power market. The Japanese government is scheduled to introduce a system in which electric power companies buy all electricity generated by wind at a certain price, but it is advisable not to reply on this optimistic move too much. As is often the case, the government may change the policy all of sudden. The key to the growth of the Japanese wind generation business totally depends on how wind generation companies can develop the foreign market.