MHI has won an order from Eurus Energy Japan Corporation to build 58 wind turbines, each with an output of 1,000 kW. 57 of the turbines will be located at the Soya-misaki Wind Farm which is to be built in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, with one further turbine to be located at the nearby Hamatonbetsu Wind Farm. When completed, Soya-misaki Wind Farm will have a total output of 57,000 kW, making it the largest wind farm in Japan. MHI is the only Japanese maker of large scale wind turbines, and was chosen for the project based on its proven track record of successful turbine delivery. On March 30th, Eurus Energy Japan Corporation signed a contract to provide electricity to Hokkaido Electric Power Company the first step towards turning the project into a reality.

Eurus Energy Japan is a wind power generation company jointly owned by Tomen Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company. This new order brings the total number of turbines Eurus Japan has commissioned from MHI to 101, including turbines for Kamaishi Wind Farm and Hamtonbetsu Wind Farm for which work is already in progress.

The turbines to be supplied for the current order are of the MWT-1000A model and have a 1,000 kW output. Although turbine blades for previous models could be used at high wind speeds, additional improvements to the structure and shape of the blades for the current model mean that, although it is classified as a 1,000 kW turbine, the MWT-1000A can generate as much power annually as a 1300kW machine.

In addition, the MWT-1000A turbine can also generate electricity efficiently at low wind speeds. At locations with an average wind speed of 6m/sec over the course of the year, the new turbines generate around 20% more electricity than previous models. The turbine blades have a rotor diameter of 62 meters, the tower is 68 meters high, and the highest point reached by the tip of the blades is around 100 meters.

The MWT-1000A is one of MHI's best selling turbine models. Orders for a combined total of 92 turbines have been received from Seto town in Ehime prefecture, Kamaishi-shi in Iwate prefecture, Shikamachi-cho in Nagasaki prefecture and Hayama-mura in Kochi prefecture. The turbines ordered by Soya-misaki and Hamatonbetsu bring the total number of domestic orders for the MWT-1000A up to 150. Overseas orders number 201 machines, for a grand total of 351. Aside from the MWT-1000A, MHI also manufacturers a range of turbines from 40 kW up to 2000 kW. The total number of orders both inside and outside Japan for all turbine models is 1758, as we grow ever closer to a total of 2000.

The MWT-1000A is renowned for its high efficiency, and in February 2004 was awarded the Japan Federation of Machinery Industry Associations Chairman's Prize at the Awards for Energy Conserving Machinery. In the same month, the MWT-1000A was also awarded the Nikkei Sangyo Newspaper Prize for Excellence - Environmental Section, which is awarded to environmental products as part of the Nikkei Superior Product and Service Prizes sponsored by the newspaper, the Nikkei.

MHI hopes to use this new order as an opportunity to make further efforts, as Japan's only manufacturer of large-scale wind turbines, towards meeting the demand for clean energy and carbon dioxide emissions reductions.

A MWT-1000A wind turbine, of the type to be installed at the Soya-misaki Wind Farm.