Analyzing the Economy of Off-shore Wind Energy using GIS Technique

Wind energy has emerged as the most attractive solution to the world's energy challenges. The possibility of locating wind turbines in the sea bed has opened up a new frontier for wind power, especially in the countries of northern Europe, where the availability of relatively shallow coastal waters has combined with the need to find space for much larger projects than are possible on land. In this paper begins with an exploration of the importance of wind power in today's energy-hungry in Japan. In this paper looks at the basics of the off-shore wind power industry, how a wind turbine works, analyzing and understanding the technologies involved in harvesting off-shore wind power, economical analysis of off-shore wind power, and much more. Economics, issues and barriers, regulatory incentives, tax incentives, and other such factors related to off-shore wind energy also explored in-depth in this paper. As our calculation results show, the generation cost is within 10 to 17 Japanese Yen/kWh and construction cost is within 139,445 Japanese Yen/kW to 240,366 Japanese Yen/kW which revealed the applicability of off-shore wind power in Japan. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B. V. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Asia-Pacific Chemical, Biological & Environmental Engineering Society