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ENERGIZED: A worker puts finishing touch to a wind turbine near Shanghai (COURTESY OF SINOVEL) |
Catch up
Before 2005, China's wind power industry lagged far behind that in European countries and the United States, and overseas wind turbine brands took a major share of the Chinese market. More than two thirds of wind farms in China were using foreign turbines.
In addition, according to Tao, all the turbines in China then were of low-level technology and were actually abandoned models from Europe and the United States. "When the United States and European countries were using wind turbines with mw-level capacity, China was using products with the capacity of several hundred kw, [which had been] eliminated from the European and American markets," said Tao. "This greatly increased the cost of wind power generation and restrained wind power development [in China]."
In October 2004, Sinovel introduced the world mainstream 1.5-mw wind turbine model into China, hoping to narrow the gap in wind power development between China and developed countries. But soon Tao found that European technology was not applicable to China's situation. "The wind and climate situations here are different from those of Europe and the United States," said Tao. "We need to develop our own products that can stand tougher weather conditions such as typhoons and extreme cold."
Clean energy agenda
A turning point in China's wind power development came in 2005 when the country reiterated the importance of clean energy in its sustainable development. Late that year, China promulgated a Law on Renewable Energy, to encourage the development of renewable energy.
After that, China issued a series of supporting policies and measures, pushing the wind power industry into the fast lane. The measures included supportive power purchase, which means the state buys all the grid-connected electricity generated by wind power at a higher price compared with thermal power.
These measures helped China's installed capacity of wind power to double in five years. During the four years from 2006-09, Sinovel alone manufactured a total of 4,000 sets of 1.5-mw wind turbines. In December 2008, China produced its first 3-mw wind turbines and the first 5-mw turbine was produced in October 2010.
World leader
In 2010, China installed 34 sets of 3-mw wind turbines at the offshore wind farm in Shanghai. This was the world's first offshore wind farm outside Europe.
"This is a milestone in China's wind power development as constructing offshore wind farms is much more sophisticated than building land wind farms," stressed Tao. "The success of the project indicates that China has now reached world class in wind power turbine design, manufacture and installation." On June 8 that year, all the turbines were connected to the grid and put into operation.
According to Sinovel's plan, China's first 6-mw turbine will be manufactured in June this year. This is also the turbine with the largest single-dynamo capacity in the world.
"One 6-mw turbine can generate 6,000 kwh of electricity every hour when fully operated," said Tao. In China, the average electricity consumption for a family with necessary home appliances like air conditioners is about 2,000 kwh a year.
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