Niigata Prefecture News

Japan's industry and land ministries on Wednesday picked three consortia, including one featuring Germany's RWE and its partners, to operate offshore wind farms in the second round of a public auction. They said they would award a fourth wind farm that was part of the tender at a later date.The results of the second major round under a new law to promote wind power were closely watched by energy companies at home and abroad, after the first round was dominated by Mitsubishi Corp.Japan's…

Japanese energy company INPEX Corporation announced that the LNG Tanker Oceanic Breeze called for the first time at INPEX’s Naoetsu LNG Terminal located in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.The tanker has delivered a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG project in Australia.Oceanic Breeze is owned by Oceanic Breeze LNG Transport S. A. (OBLT), a joint venture between INPEX Shipping Co., Ltd. (INPEX Shipping) (30%) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line) (70%), and designated to transport the 0.9 million tons per year of Ichthys LNG entitled to INPEX.Oceanic Breeze’s transportation and delivery of Ichthys LNG to the Terminal marks a significant milestone in INPEX’s development of a global gas value chain business…

A new vessel built for carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Ichthys LNG Project in Darwin, Australia to Naoetsu, Niigata has been named at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) Nagasaki Shipyard. The LNG carrier was named Oceanic Breeze by Toshiaki Kitamura, President of INPEX Corporation (INPEX), whose fully owned subsidiary INPEX Shipping Co., Ltd. will time-charter the ship. Oceanic Breeze, owned by Oceanic Breeze LNG Transport S.A. (OBLT), a 30/70 joint venture between Inpex Shipping and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.

The latest delivery from Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania Akane, an 85 metre high speed Wave Piercing Catamaran Ferry, Incat hull 068, will arrive in Japan early April. Built at the Incat shipyard at Prince of Wales Bay, Hobart the vessel was sea trialled late   March, and has departed Hobart on her delivery voyage. The vessel will go into service in April with Sado Kisen, a long standing ferry operator in Japan. Akane will operate from the Niigata and Naoetsu ports on the west coast of Japan to the Sado Island ports of Ogi and Ryotsu.

A consortium of ten companies led by Hitachi Zosen Corporation (Hitz) has been awarded the bid to develop the “Iwafune Offshore Wind Farm Project” in Murakami City, Niigata prefecture. The award is the result of a public bidding held by Murakami City’s project promotion committee, chaired by the city’s mayor, Hiramasa Otaki, says a press statement. The project will use 44 5MW turbines developed by Hitachi, with a total power generating capacity of 220MW. The 5MW turbine is the most powerful commercially available turbine in Japan at present, and it is anticipated the project could produce 670GWh annually. Murakami City consider the Iwafune Offshore Wind Farm Project as having the potential to help to stimulate the local economy…

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that has hit Japan, fears are growing over the potential for radiation leaks from damaged nuclear plants. Equity markets have been hit while FFA prices have also sustained significant losses. With the situation still unfolding, the longer term impact of the disaster on commodity markets is unclear, although some initial conclusions can be drawn. In the short term, shipping has been disrupted with 13 ports reported by Reuters to have closed, with some of these unlikely to be operational for several months or even years. Initial assessments by Macquarie and the Steel Index put production at five large steel mills in the worst-affected region at risk, accounting for 15-18 million tonnes (Mt) of annualized steel production capacity.