Still reeling from the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011, Japan has announced its intention to build what could become the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

New Scientist reported last week that the world’s third largest economy plans to build by 2020 an offshore wind farm with 143 turbines 16 kilometres from the destroyed Daiichi nuclear reactor.

The new wind farm will generate 1 gigawatt of power once completed, the magazine said, adding it is part of a Japanese plan to increase renewable energy resources following the post-tsunami shutdown of the nation’s 54 nuclear reactors. Currently, two of those reactors have come back online.

“The project is part of the Fukushima region’s plan to become completely energy self-sufficient by 2040, using renewable sources alone,” the article said.

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province with a population equivalent to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales combined, has decided to abandon coal-fired electricity a year ahead of schedule.

“The early closure is a result of Ontario’s strong conservation efforts, a smarter electricity grid and a diverse supply of cleaner energy,” Dalton McGuinty, Ontario’s Premier said. “Shutting down the last coal plants in Southern Ontario will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save the province $ CAN95 million (€72.4 million).”

In a press release, the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) said Ontario has reduced use of coal by 90% since 2003 while at the same time bringing online 2,000 MW of clean, emissions-free wind energy, up from 400 MW in 2006.

Despite the on-going global economic slowdown, growth predictions about China’s wind power sector are optimistic. On Monday, the deputy director general of China’s National Energy Administration acknowledged that wind energy is the third largest source of electricity in the world’s most populous nation after thermal and hydro power.

“Wind power has become the third-largest electric power in China,” Liu Qi said. “There is no electric power to substitute the position of wind power as number three, following thermal power and hydropower.”

A press release noted that China’s current energy policy says that wind power in the nation will be developed efficiently because it “is the non-hydro renewable energy with the biggest possibility of large-scale development and market utilisation at the moment.”

The Capitol in Washington

It came a day late, but US politicians in Washington finally approved on Tuesday a major piece of legislation that would increase taxes only on the most wealthy Americans as well as extending the highly-successful Production Tax Credit (PTC) on wind power projects.

Backed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the bill was designed to stop the nation going over the so-called “fiscal cliff” 31 December because of planned tax increases for almost all Americans and aggressive program cutbacks.

One of the key elements of the bill was to keep promoting America’s quest for increased amounts of green energy. As such, it contained a provision to extend the PTC — a tax incentive that has been instrumental in driving growth in the rapidly-expanding US wind energy sector — through the end of 2013.

Global Wind Day 2012 photo competition winner (c) EWEA/Markus Haslinge

 Once again, a moribund global economy defined the year as politicians around the world tried to get ahead of the stubborn financial and debt crisis.

And yet, for the European wind industry, 2012 included a signature achievement when, in late September, it was announced that the EU had passed the milestone of 100 gigawatt (GW) of installed wind power capacity. This can generate enough electricity over a year to meet the total consumption of 57 million households, equivalent to the power production of 39 nuclear power plants.

The year was also significant for the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) which celebrated its 30^th anniversary of guiding the wind energy sector in its transition from an alternative to a mainstream power source.

EWEA also announced that Thomas Becker would become its new Chief Executive Officer when Christian Kjaer, after seven years in the top job, steps down early in 2013.