The Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE), a department in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), estimates that there are around 6GW in wind energy resources in northern Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island.
But the area’s small population means it does not have the grid capacity to support more wind farms.
Under a plan revealed last month, ANRE is seeking 25 billion yen ($318m) from the Ministry of Finance to pay for half the investment required by new grid lines transmitting electricity from wind farms in the north to the island’s largest cities such as Sapporo.
Developers
