“LVRT systems are required under the standards of China’s largest power distributor, the State Grid Corp, which is in charge of power integration,” as reported by the China Daily. However, installing LVRT on a wind turbine means more expenses. It costs between 10,000 yuan ($1,538 U.S. dollars) and 500,000 yuan to upgrade a single wind turbine to be LVRT-compliant, depending on the turbine model, which would reduce profit margins for wind turbine manufacturers.

Installing this equipment may seem like an effective way to avoid future problems, but small companies that manufacture wind turbines will struggle to pay the additional costs. Anyway, does this equipment guarantee that wind turbine operators would never again experience a voltage dip that jolts the power grid? Perhaps not, as revealed by Qin Haiyon, secretary-general of the China Wind Energy Association. He told the China Daily, “the absence of LVRT systems is not the only possible reason for the system failures.”

Nevertheless, there’s still strong potential for growth for China’s wind turbines sector, especially in Gansu Province. The province is scheduled to have 10 gigawatts (gW) of installed wind capacity, compared with the 5.5gW it produced in 2010.

The People’s Daily noted that Gansu Province contains the potential for additional wind capacity of 200gW. Gansu’s wind power development has transformed into a model story in China, where 32 massive wind farms are located and the region has turned into a popular site for wind power developers in China.

According to the China Daily, “the grid in Gansu is being built out in conjunction with generation facilities. Connected wind power contributes 16% of the total power generated in Gansu, compared with a national average of 1.2%.”

Hence, China’s wind energy has been struggling with turbulence this year, but a bright outlook for the sector remains in the forecast. Every industry has dealt with ups and downs in the market, but China’s wind energy won’t get blown away by a bad turn of events so long as it adapts to changing economic and political conditions. China still needs wind farms to produce energy to meet growing domestic demand.

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