When Eco Power Co. President Toshio Katano joined the firm in 1998 from its parent, Ebara Corp., a Tokyo-based industrial machinery manufacturer, he doubted whether the nation's largest wind power firm would turn a profit.
Yet Eco Power has grown dramatically in a short time, despite the small market, posting a record profit of 527 million yen in the business year that ended on March 31. The previous year, it logged a profit of 236 million yen.
Eco Power currently produces nearly 90,000 kw of electricity at its wind power plants -- enough to power about 45,000 households.