(Bloomberg) — Hitachi Zosen Corp. is targeting 50 billion
yen ($419 million) in annual sales from its wind-power business
within 10 years as it capitalizes on Japan’s push to develop
more renewable energy.
The Osaka-based company wants to expand the services it
offers to the wind-power industry to encompass developing,
engineering, operations and maintenance services, Takashi
Fujita, general manager of the department promoting the
company’s wind-power business, said in an interview last week.
“We need to develop and have projects in stock because in
10 years there will be several” competitors focusing solely on
engineering services, he said.
The company, which started as a shipyard in 1881, was
picked in February along with nine other companies by the city
of Murakami in Niigata prefecture for an offshore wind project
with turbines fixed to the bottom of the ocean.
Construction of the 220-megawatt wind farm may start in
five years after environmental impact assessments and surveys on
wind and seabed conditions, Fujita said.
Hitachi Zosen has an agreement with Statoil ASA, Norway’s
oil and gas producer, for technology cooperation on floating
offshore wind suitable for water depths of 100 meters (328 feet)
or more.
The company and Ideol SA, a French venture, signed an
agreement last month for Ideol’s floating offshore technology
suitable for shallower waters, according to Fujita.
Hitachi Zosen, which has built three onshore wind stations
in Japan, is considering other locations for offshore wind
projects, Fujita said, declining to give details.
The company declined to say how much its wind business is
generating in sales currently.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at
cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Iain Wilson, Abhay Singh