Hokkaido has renewable energy resources that have yet to be developed. In search of such resources, Eurus Energy Holdings (Eurus), the largest wind power generation company in Japan, has decided to embark on one of the largest land-based wind power generation projects in the country in northern Hokkaido. In northern Hokkaido, it is easy to secure large tracts of land, and it is also advantageous for wind turbines and other power generation equipment to be transported smoothly. In this project, a total of up to 260 wind turbines will be built in the Soya region, including Wakkanai City, and the Rumoi region, including Teshio Town. The total output will be 1.65 million kilowatts, and they are scheduled to be operational as early as around 2031. Eurus aims to attract data centers (DCs), which consume large amounts of electricity, and supply them with renewable energy. With the spread of generative AI, the expansion of DCs has become an urgent issue. Companies such as Microsoft have announced that they will be expanding their DCs in Japan.
Eurus aims to build a system for local production and consumption of renewable energy electricity. However, there are problems with this. The amount of electricity to be generated will be huge, 1.65 million kilowatts. It will be difficult to consume all of this electricity in the northern part of Hokkaido. The population density in northern Hokkaido is low, and the capacity of the transmission lines is small, so there is a problem that the potential cannot be fully utilized. This area has the potential to supply the cheapest renewable energy electricity in Japan. Of course, we are also considering countermeasures. Eurus is also planning to set up a hydrogen production base. It is an attempt to electrolyze water with renewable energy electricity to create “green hydrogen”. This hydrogen will be transported by tanker truck to the Sapporo and Tomakomai areas and supplied to manufacturing and energy-related companies. In Hokkaido, there is a demand to build a system for local production and consumption of electricity like Eurus.
Looking overseas, New York City and the state of California are also making it mandatory to install solar power generation systems in newly built homes. In Japan, after the FIT period expires, each household will have to find a place to sell the post-FIT electricity themselves. According to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, the number of households with post-FIT electricity will increase by 200,000 to 300,000 per year from 2019. By 2025, the cumulative output of post-FIT power generation facilities is expected to exceed 8 million kW. This 8 million kW is expected to reach the equivalent of eight nuclear power plants. It seems that wind power and solar power will support the local people as a certain energy source.
