Wind Power|Wind Power Energy

China had more than 80 wind turbines makers as of 2010, capable of producing over 40 Gigawatts, yet wind equipment demand is expected to be just 15 GW a year.

And companies looking overseas to fuel their growth are met by funding bottlenecks in Europe and the United States that are likely to mean a decline in orders.

At home, Beijing has taken action to rein in overcapacity – implementing stricter technical standards for wind turbine production, tightening approvals for new wind generators farms and suspending connections of certain wind projects.

Those government moves to cool the sector have already dented profits at China’s top companies, including Sinovel Wind Group and Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology . Earnings at several firms nearly halved in the first half of this year.

“The worst isn’t over for these guys,” said Min Li, head of alternative energy at Yuanta Securities. “Massive oversupply and a slowdown in wind turbine orders will keep margins depressed for a couple more years.”

Macquarie analyst Patrick Dai said he expected Goldwind’s revenue to decline at an annualized rate of 3 percent from 2011 to 2013.

“Oversupply and soft demand conditions are unlikely to improve significantly in 2012, which suggests that pricing pressure should persist in the next 12 months,” he said.

Chinese wind turbine generator makers’ global share had been expanding along with China’s rise as the biggest wind power market last year.

Seven Chinese companies, including Dongfang Electric and China Ming Yang Wind Power Group, were among the world’s top 15 in 2010, according to Make Consulting, a specialist in the wind power industry.

China is on track to install 15 GW of wind power capacity annually through 2020, down from about 19 GW added last year, according to the Chinese Wind Energy Association.

China’s Guohua Energy Investment Co. has agreed to buy 75% stakes in two of Australia’s biggest wind farms for A$88.6 million, placing a bet on the country’s renewable energy sector just weeks after controversial carbon tax legislation was passed by parliament.

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Guohua, a unit of China’s state-owned coal giant Shenhua Group, is acquiring interests in the 65-megawatt Bluff Point and 75-megawatt Studland Bay wind farms in northwest Tasmania state from renewable energy producer Hydro Tasmania.

Australia has up to now been a laggard in using renewable energy use compared to other developed countries, such as Spain and Germany, as investors struggled to turn a profit on early projects that were competing for customers with generators of electricity produced from burning cheaply available thermal coal.

At the end of the 2008-2009 financial year, the last complete data available from the Australian government, renewable energy accounted for around 7% of total electricity generation in the country. Of this, wind energy contributed 1.5% to total power output.

However, this is set to increase sharply as Australia’s government has set a target of having 20% of electricity supply coming from renewable energy sources like wind power by 2020. To achieve this goal, it has introduced policies that mandate electricity retailers to buy a proportion of their sales from renewable energy sources.

At the same time, Australia is also preparing to impose a tax on some of the country’s biggest coal producers and users in an effort to cut pollution. The levy will be charged at a fixed price of 23 Australian dollars (US$23.50) per carbon ton from the country’s top 500 polluters starting July 2012.

In a statement Thursday, Hydro Tasmania small wind turbines said the deal with Guohua values the two wind farms at Woolnorth at A$282 million. The company will retain the remaining 25% interests in both projects.

In comparison to terrestrial wind parks, offshore wind energy is still developing. But bi-yearly conferences, such as the German American Offshore Conference, held October 18 in New Jersey, attract German companies to the United States for networking and showcasing their wares.

Germany’s own handful of offshore wind farms, including Alpha Ventus, opened April 2010 in the North Sea, and Baltic 1, which opened in May 2011 in the Baltic Sea, have set the stage for future expansion.

But in Germany, “the offshore sector is not completely open yet,” Dietmar Schültz, president of the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) said in Berlin at the 2011 annual renewable energy conference.

Strict zoning laws – German offshore wind generator parks must be located at least 30 kilometres from shore – and limited space have caused energy leaders to look elsewhere for expansion possibilities.

“In the US, we’re getting closer to building a market, and the German companies also recognize that,” Allen said.

Siemens, attempting to insure its industry-leading position in offshore wind power generators development, has already secured contracts with Cape Wind, the premier US-offshore wind project off the coast of Nantucket in Massachusetts, to provide turbine equipment and with Deepwater Wind, a planned project near Block Island, Rhode Island.

“The offshore market is also beginning to materialize in the US. Greater research and interest is developing in the northeast region,” Albenze said. “We believe wind is here to stay and are confident in the long-term outlook of the renewable energy market in the US.”

Alstom’s new ECO 122 2.7MW model is a combination of its products and large-capacity high-power technology, specifically designed for low wind speed region developed. The model for the fan speed 7.5m / s wind energy can be converted up to 42%, equivalent to 3600 hours per year full-power generation.

ECO 122 model rotor diameter of 122 meters, the wind swept area of ​​11,700 square meters, is 2.0MW to 3.0MW-class models in the largest, to maximize access to wind energy. ECO 122 wind farms in order to make the fan less production than it is now 1.5 – 2.0MW models 25 percent more power. As an example, in a typical low-speed zone, 6 1.5 – 2.0MW wind turbine produce electricity 40GWh / year, while the five ECO 122 wind turbine generator can produce electricity more than 50GWh / year.

And 1.5 – 2.0MW models compared, ECO 122 model from the infrastructure, platform and roads, less wiring, etc. reduced by 10% to 15% of production costs.

Alstom ECO 100 ECO 122 is a series of new products, since 2008, the series has been built and installed capacity 350MW, run more than 20 million hours. ECO 122 for the first time fans will be installed in mid-2012, is expected to be delivered in early 2013.

Alstom existing 1.67MW to 3.0MW series wind turbine, the new 6.0MW wind turbines being developed production.

Siemens has joined forces with Shangai Electric to help advance wind power technology in the world’s most populous nation.

The two companies signed a deal yesterday that will see them pool resources to jointly research, develop, and produce new technologies specifically for the Chinese wind market. The companies have worked together in the past, providing turbines for an offshore Chinese wind farm earlier this year, and Siemens currently operates a turbine blade production facility in Shanghai. Overall, Siemens has been operating in China wind turbines for 139 years.

The deal will also see Siemens and Shanghai Electric working together to improve the state of wind technology sales, marketing, and service in the country. With both ventures, Shanghai Electric will have a 51 percent stake in operations and Siemens 49 percent.

“Our target is to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of wind turbines,” Siemens’ Michael Suess said, calling China “the world’s most important wind power market.”

As of 2010, China had an overall wind power capacity of 44,733 MW, putting it ahead of the United States as the world’s largest wind power market.

- Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology , China’s second-largest maker of wind equipment, said it won a contract to supply 23 wind turbines to a wind farm project in Ecuador.

The contract represents Goldwind’s second supply deal in Ecuador and will have a combined capacity of 34.5 megawatts, said the company in a statement without giving the deal’s financial details.

Earlier this year, the Chinese company won a contract to supply turbines to a wind farm project in the country led by the Electricity Corp of Ecuador.

China’s top wind turbine makers are increasingly looking to export their equipment overseas to boost sales amid sliding turbine prices and challenging market conditions in their home country.

Goldwind will supply low wind turbine generator speed and high altitude turbines to Ecuador’s wind farm project. The company has begun mass production of its permanent magnet direct drive low speed wind turbines this year to penetrate regions and markets with low wind speed

The number of grid-connected wind farms in China reached 486 by the end of August 2011, with the total installed wind power capacity standing at more than 39.2 gigawatts, according to the Wind Power Safety Report 2011 recently released by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

By the end of August 2011, the installed wind power generators capacity exceeded 1 megawatt in nine provinces in China, including Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Gansu, Liaoning, Jilin, Shandong, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu and Xinjiang.

According to the report, China’s wind power industry has enjoyed steady and rapid development in recent years. The country’s total installed wind power capacity has doubled for five consecutive years during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010), making it the world’s largest wind power producer. China’s wind power output reached 49.4 gigawatt hours in 2010, up nearly 79 percent from the previous year and accounting for over 1 percent of the country’s total electricity output.

The average utilization hours of its installed wind power capacity reached 2,047 hours last year. During the first six months of 2011, China’s wind power output reached 42.9 gigawatt-hours, up more than 81 percent from a year earlier and accounting for nearly 2 percent of the total electricity output of the country’s wind farms above the designated size. In addition, the average utilization hours of China’s installed wind power capacity reached more than 1,250 hours during the period.

China is rich in wind energy resources and has huge potential for wind energy. China’s potential development capacity of wind power on land and offshore is 2.4 gigawatts and 200 megawatts, respectively, with about 80 percent of the capacity concentrated in its northern regions, southeastern coastal areas and offshore islands. The geographical distribution of its wind energy resources is similar to that of coal resources, but it is not aligned with the distribution of power demand.

Wind power from the national electricity company of Shaanxi Traditional food groove came the news of two wind power projects, the project successfully and the first unit grid.

Traditional food ditch two wind power projects in Shaanxi was put into commercial operation the company’s second wind farm. The wind farm installed capacity of 49,500 kilowatts, 33 sets of 1500 kilowatts installed inside the wind turbine. The project was launched in March 2011 to obtain approval of Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission, officially started construction in July, has overcome the shortage of funds, bad weather, time, heavy task so difficult, successfully completed the construction and production preparation tasks. Currently, the project is the rest of the fan to come on stream, by the end of 33 wind turbines in the wind farm will be fully put into operation, expected annual energy output could reach 100 million degrees.

Ningbo Beilun in Zhejiang Wind Power Project and through network successfully, the official start of Beilun district power. Issue and put into operation 1.5 MW wind turbines manufacturers 8, the total installed capacity of 12 MW.

As the largest, Zhejiang Province, wind farms, through wind farm project is located in Beilun District, White Peak Peninsula town of mountains, the total land area of ​​about 45 acres, the planned total installed capacity of 45 megawatts, plans to install 30 1.5 MW wind turbine generator , simultaneous construction of 110 kV step-up substation 1, the total investment of 480 million yuan, annual wind power generation capacity of 102.64 million kwh, enough to power an ordinary town.

Wind power project in the construction process, Beilun Power Supply Bureau, a really good job with the coordination and active in providing technical support. Especially in the wind power projects and network access process, involving changes to the 110 kV Guo full stop. Deputy director of the council led the production, from scheduling biotech marketing departments have conducted the technical backbone of the special meeting to discuss and put into operation to determine the operation mode in the region during the same time enable the Ningbo International Container Co., Ltd. (four terminals) 10 kV line to the four terminals by electricity, mining and other industrial control power, and put into operation to ensure that residential electricity grid reliability during operation.

It is reported that the use of windmill  power project development, from a certain extent, improve the energy structure for the development and construction of Beilun increase energy supply and relieve tension power grid of Zhejiang, the Beilun Power grid play an effective supporting role.

As the state of low-speed windmill power development plan progresses, more and more companies began to focus on the development of low-speed fan. Reporters learned from Sinovel, hosted by the Ministry of Science, “863″ project “1.5MW wind turbine low wind speed the development of key technologies and whole development of the” subject of recent review and acceptance by the National Science and Technology Group, which means Sinovel officially launched the strategic layout of the low speed fan.

It is understood that the subject of Sinovel completed the mission statement of the mandate, objectives and evaluation models for the major technical indicators independently developed SL1500/82 and SL1500/89 two low-speed wind turbine.

Currently, the two wind turbine generator has achieved mass production, to achieve installed capacity of 3,200 units. Which, SL1500/82 unit in May 2010 by the Germanischer Lloyd (GL) of the fan load, the power curve, noise, power quality and other field test, and on October 20, 2011 received China’s first A-level design certification – Germanischer Lloyd (GL) A-level design certification.

“863 plan” or “National High Technology Research and Development Program,” organized by the National Science and Technology Department to implement, focus on solving the long-term national development and national security strategic, cutting-edge and forward-looking high-tech issues, development of independent intellectual property rights high-tech, high-tech industries to cultivate the wind turbines manufacturers growing point.

Low-speed wind resources development area is the “second five” important strategic planning of wind power point of the layout. Wind power in the “five” period from the original “building large bases into the bulk power system” to “centralized decentralization” model of development, the development of low-speed wind, and to encourage distributed to the grid.

“At present, the National Energy Board is working with relevant departments to step up access to the grid and wind power consumptive market research, which highlighted the grid on the provinces by the end of the low-speed wind power development and power consumptive issues.” National grid Energy Strategy and Planning Bai Jianhua, director, told reporters that the future of the national level will increase these low wind speed areas of small wind turbines installed capacity target, a large grid as a great base for access outside of an effective complement to grid development pattern. For low wind speeds at the national policy to support wind power development in the context of more and more clear, the next five years, low-speed wind power development will usher in the peak period of development.