Wind power test underway in Kanagawa Prefecture

A test to stabilize the electrical output from wind power generation is being conducted at the Miura Wind Park Inc. in Kanagawa Prefecture (Japan).

The output of wind power generators varies depending on wind velocity. The demonstration is being carried out using an NAS battery electricity storage system.

Five hundred kilowatt systems were connected to two 400 kilowatt wind power generators.  The system then functions as a power station that stores electrical power during times of low demand and discharges it during peak demand, to reduce load fluctuations and provide stable power output.

The NAS battery system is the world’s first such system in actual operation.  This system is compact and lightweight, and about one-third that of a conventional lead-acid battery, and as well offers the prospect of larger capacity in the future.

The text will be completed in December 2007.

Fossil-fuel based power is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Green power from renewable energy sources emit no or low greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. Green power can include electricity generated exclusively from renewable resources including wind, hydro-electric or solar power – or electricity produced from a combination of fossil and renewable resources. For more information on the generation and use of green power at the local level, please visit www.iclei.org/ccp.

Kanagawa Prefecture is one of 21 local governments in Japan that are currently Members of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.  For more information on ICLEI and its activities in Japan, please visit www.iclei.org/japan.

Source:  “Japanese companies test system to stabilize output from wind power”, Japan for Sustainability, 23 September 2007.