Offshore Wind Turbines in Japan Resist Tsunami

A cheap and simply structured wind-power plant proved more resistant to natural disasters than nuclear plants.

The wind plant 50 meters off the coast of Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, survived the massive March 11 tsunami and is now running at full capacity supplying electricity to Tokyo Electric Power Co., which was greatly compromised when the waves crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The wind plant owned and operated by Fukui Prefecture-based Mitani Corp., one of Japan’s two offshore wind-power plants, has seven power generators. Each generator is attached to three propeller blades sitting atop a mast that, when turning, transforms wind into electricity.

Source: Offshore Wind