Dutch Lagerwey will supply 28 of its 750 kW turbine model for a 21 MW wind farm at Horonobe. The project sponsor is Lagerwey's Japanese agent, the large NKK Corp, which has a 35% stake in the development, joining major trading company Itochu and several local companies. Completion is scheduled for November 2001. According to NKK's Yokichi Shibamura, it is also likely that a second 21 MW wind farm will use Lagerwey turbines. The project is for a site near Esashi and is backed by Hitakomuten KK. The third project is backed by another big trading company, Marubeni Corp. It is planning to use 20, 750 kW NEG Micon turbines from Denmark for a 15 MW wind farm at Wakkanai city, to be completed by July 2001.
Dutch score four
Lagerwey is also making other inroads into the Japanese market. The latest batch of confirmed orders brings the number of Lagerwey LW50/750 units in Japan to 19, making it one of the leading wind turbine suppliers to the country, says the company. Following the sale of six 750 kW units to Japan earlier this year, Lagerwey is to ship a further 11 units to four new Japanese projects in the next four months, the company reports. The largest of these, a four unit project in the Fukushima prefecture, will be developed by the city of Tenei with the turbines shipped from the Netherlands in March for a November start.
The remaining three projects-one three turbine cluster and two projects of two units each-are all located in the Nagasaki prefecture and will be operated by private organisations. They should be on-line in March.
The success of Lagerwey's Japanese operation is due in large part to its collaboration with NKK, which has acted as the Dutch company's local sales organisation since 1997, says Lagerwey. According to Shibamura, the company is shortly to announce another 15 MW wind project, this time for the Kansai region, where NKK is an active investor.
.jpg)
