Fuji develops Subaru small wind turbine

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd (FHI) has installed its first 40 kW wind turbine in Utsunomiya. The wind turbine has been developed by FHI's aviation space department. It will be sold commercially in Japan and abroad under the Subaru brand name from next spring. The company sees a market for small wind turbines near big cities or environmentally sensitive areas. The unit emits low noise and is 30 metres tall from base of tower to blade tip, says the company. It is based on variable speed control technology and has three blades, a rotor diameter of 15 metres, and a cut-in wind speed of 2 m/s. The turbine has been developed with economic assistance from Japan's New Energy Development Organisation, a public agency.