Akita Noshiro, Japan’s first large offshore wind farm project, built on steel from Dillinger

The Akita Noshiro offshore wind farm project, which recently began commercial operation, is the first large-scale offshore project ever built in Japan. Dillinger supplied approximately 26,300 tons of heavy plate for the monopile foundation structures, in thicknesses ranging from 50 to 100 mm.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to use our highly advanced production processes and wide-ranging service system to also supply quality steels for the first large-scale offshore project in Japan,” said Dr. Karl-Ulrich Köhler, Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Sales Officer of Dillinger. “This means we are contributing to further advancing the expansion of green energy internationally in an important way.”

The offshore project, which includes the Akita and Noshiro wind farms, is part of Japan’s ambitious green energy development plan: the government plans to approve three to four sites per year with a capacity of 1 GW. The two wind farms cover 730 hectares in the coastal zone of Akita Prefecture. With 33 wind turbines and an annual capacity of 139 MW, the wind farms will soon be supplying around 124,000 households with environmentally friendly electricity. The wind turbines are mounted on monopiles that are over 78 meters long and weigh around 880 tons, in a water depth of between 10 and 30 meters.