China to have 100 GW wind power capacity by 2020

Beijing, May 4 (Xinhua) - China plans to finish 100 gigawatts of wind power capacity and expand its renewable energy consumption to 40 per cent of the energy market by 2050.


The goal for wind power capacity was more than three times of the 30 gigawatts target that the government set 18 months ago, Monday's China Daily reported.

China will also become the biggest growth market for wind power generating capacity this year, ahead of the United States, said the report, citing a forecast from the Global Wind Energy Council(GWEC).

As the world's second largest energy consumer, China has around 12 gigawatts of wind power capacity and has said it wants to raise that to around 20 gigawatts by next year.

The plan means wind will be a bigger source of renewable energy than nuclear, despite a construction boom in nuclear power plants, and also far bigger than solar, which is expected to hit 1.8 gigawatts, according to a 2007 plan.

The annual growth rate in China's wind power will be around 20 per cent, said Fang Junshi, head of the coal department of the National Energy Administration.

China is currently the fourth largest wind power producer in the world after the United States, Germany and Spain.

The World Wind Energy Report 2008 had predicted that Asia, under China's lead, will "become the worldwide locomotive for the wind industry" and "Chinese wind turbine manufacturers will be among the top international suppliers".

China To Invest $85 Billion In Energy Sector

February 4, 2009

Chinese state media announced Wednesday the country would invest 580 billion yuan ($85 billion) to expand its energy industry in 2009, including investment in nuclear and wind-powered capacity.

State-owned power companies are increasing their investments to meet growing demand and boost economic growth. In addition to increased investment in coal-fired generation, plans call for spending on wind, nuclear and solar power, according to Chinese state television.

China will build eight more nuclear plants with a total of 16 reactors over the next three years, according to the China Daily newspaper.

The country has 11 nuclear reactors supplying about 1% of its power, and Beijing wants to raise that share to 5%, said the newspaper.

Source: http://www.cleantechbrief.com

Power Company China Datang Exceeds 2GW of Wind Capacity

Beijing-based power company China Datang Corporation (601991.SH, 991.HK) began producing electricity in a 49.5MW wind project in Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia on December 23, to bring the company's total wind capacity to 2.03GW. China Datang has realized 247.5MW of the 346.5MW total capacity of its Inner Mongolia wind projects.

Econcern to lead $1 bln China wind farm investment

LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Clean energy company Econcern will partner with China National Offshore Oil Corp and Sinohydro to invest 863 million euros ($1.09 billion) to build four Chinese wind farms, the companies said on Tuesday.

Construction of the wind farms, which will generate around 720 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, will begin in 2009, Netherlands-based Econcern said in a statement.

As atmospheric greenhouse gas levels from burning fossil fuels rise, increasing the threat of potentially devastating climate change, more companies are looking to invest in renewable sources of energy like wind and solar.

'Traditional energy suppliers focus on conventional models and solutions, but this is no longer sustainable in any sense,' Econcern Chairman Ad van Wijk said. 'Sustainable energy is the only long term viable option.'

Last month, BP Alternative Energy, a unit of oil group BP Plc, pulled out of a partnership in a 148.5 MW Chinese wind farm project, saying it had decided to suspend its wind power business in Asia.

Econcern's announcement comes on the sidelines of UN-sponsored climate talks in Poznan, Poland where governments are working towards a new treaty to fight climate change.

China offers 800 million RMB subsidy to nuclear power and wind power equipment manufacturers

2008 November 24th Huang Li, a deputy-director in energy saving at the National Energy Administration disclosed that the central government has decided to offer 800 million yuan ($11.76 million) by the end of this year to subsidize China's nuclear power and wind power equipment manufacturers.

The improvement is part of the government's 100 billion yuan additional fiscal package, which should be spent by the end of this quarter, to prevent an excessive economic slowdown.

"The subsidy is mainly targeted at key technology for national nuclear power and wind turbine producers, and about 10% manufacturers will get the subsidy", said Huang expected the move could promote localization of the technology for nuclear and wind power generation.

China subsidizes renewable energy power generation

Xinhua Economic News (2008/11/24)

BEIJING, Nov 24, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- China will provide 2.023 billion yuan of subsidies to 148 renewable energy power generation projects from October 2007 to June 2008, according to a notice issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Included are 102 wind power programs, 43 biomass power programs, three solar energy power projects with overall installed capacity and on-grid electricity of 5.6972 million kilowatt and 7.721 billion kilowatt hours.

The subsidy policy is designed to compensate the partial on-grid renewable energy electricity price, operating and maintenance fees of independent public renewable energy power system, power grid connection fee as well as losses of straw-fired power generating programs.

In addition, 12 provincial power grid enterprises are allowed to introduce the additional electricity fee from other their counterparts of other provinces through quota trading to make up their fund shortage. The transaction volume will amount to 873 million yuan.

Electricity grid enterprises are required to honor the subsidies and quota transactions within ten working days.

China has subsidized 38 renewable energy power generation projects with total installed capacity of 1.414 million kilowatt hours in 2006 with 260 million yuan.

China introduced Renewable Energy Law starting from January 1, 2006 and issued pricing mechanism and amortization measures on renewable energy power generation later to prompt the development of renewable energy sector.

DFSTW became the largest wind turbine supplier in China

DFSTW released the wind turbine prototype in 2006, and by the end of 2007 DFSTW had produced 208 sets of wind turbines. In 2008 DFSTW obtained more orders, and the wind turbine production capacity reached 800 sets and will reach 1200 sets in 2009.

At present DFSTW has three wind turbine production bases, they are Sichuan Deyang, Tianjin and Zhejiang Xiaoshan.

DFSTW is able to produce most of the components for the wind turbine systems by itself, and its gross margin in 2008 is 14.69%, while it was 4.8% in 2007.

At present DFSTW has 20 billion RMB order in hands, and 10 billion RMB more order to sign. DFSTW has great relationship with the major wind power project investors, this ensure a great potential for DFSTW.

CSR invests 2.1 billion CNY to expand Zhuzhou wind power production base

November 19th 2008, CSR Zhuzou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co., Ltd released their plan to build CSR Time Industrial Park in Zhuzhou, the total investment will be 3.35 billion CNY including 2.1 billion CNY for the wind power production base expansion.

Shandong Shouguang Huaneng Wind Power Project to begin operation by the end of 2008

Shandong Shouguang Wind Power Project is invested by Huaneng Group and their American partner, and the total investment is 559 million RBM.

33 sets of 1.5MW wind turbines will be installed, and about 96.5 million KWH power could be transfered to the power grid each year after the operation starts at the end of December 2008.

AMSC Windtec to design wind turbine for China's Shenyang Blower Works

November 18th 2008, AMSC Windtec signed cooperation agreement with Shenyang Blower Works.

American Superconductor Corporation's Windtec subsidiary will provide the Shenyang Blower Works with designs for its 2MW doubly fed induction wind turbine, in a move that will position the company as a leading supplier of wind turbines to the Chinese marketplace.

American Superconductor will also help the Chinese company source all the core components for the wind turbines from local suppliers, as well as help it establish a wind turbine manufacturing line and build and test its first prototype wind turbines.

It will also provide the full electrical systems for all the turbines.

After receiving certification, Shenyang Blower Works will then manufacture and sell the turbines, primarily in the Chinese market.

Founded in 1934 and based in Shenyang, China, Shenyang Blower Works is a state-owned company that makes an array of industrial equipment including large-scale compressors, blowers, fans, heat exchangers as well as large-scale nuclear power pumps, boiler feed pumps and petrochemical pumps.

The company plans to have its first prototype turbines commissioned in 2009 and expects to begin series production in 2010.

According to the Chinese Wind Energy Association, China will grow its base of wind power from 5.9GW at the end of 2007 to more than 10GW in 2008.

In its Global Wind Energy Outlook 2008 report, the Global Wind Energy Council estimates that China's installed base could grow to between 101GW and 201GW by 2020.

Inner Mongolia reached 2GW wind power generation capacity

By the end of October 2008, the cumulative installed wind power generation capacity in Inner Mongolia reached 2.0568GW. And Inner Mongolia is the first province that reached 2GW wind power generation capacity.

By the end of October 2008, the cumulative generated wind power in Inner Mongolia reached 2.496KWH.

Inner Mongolia plans to reach 5GW wind power generation capacity by the end of 2010 with six GW grade wind power generation bases.

Taiwan pushes wind power

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Taiwan's wind power capacity is set to increase to 3,000 megawatts by 2020.

The government of Taiwan is moving to increase its renewable energy focus, and wind is one of the country's most important renewable resources, according to Asia in Focus.

The Industrial Technology Research Institute made the 3,000-megawatt prediction and said that $6.12 billion is expected to be spent on wind turbines by 2020.

ITR researchers also predicted that by 2009 China will replace the United States as the world's largest country in terms of wind power installation capacity. The Chinese government is working to increase investment to boost the capacity of wind power.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

China's wind market expansion unfazed by global slowdown

Tuesday, 18 November 2008

China's plans to reach 100GW of installed wind power generation capacity by 2020 are unlikely to be derailed-or even side-tracked-by the current global financial crisis, according to a recent study of China's towering wind power market.

In a new assessment, China Wind Power Markets and Strategies, 2008-2020, Emerging Energy Research (EER) reports that despite inevitable slowdowns in markets elsewhere, China's wind initiatives are so large in scale and so well supported by the government, that the country's new renewable energy goals are likely be met well before the 2020 target. China is on track to become the single largest market for wind power by 2011. In just two years, China will account for more than 17% of the world's installed wind generation capacity, financed by an investment of more than US$ 20 billion. EER's new study was completed following three months of in-market, primary research and interviews by EER's Asia research team with dozens of Chinese independent power producers (IPPs), utilities, component and turbine manufacturers, and government and provincial ministries. As part of the study, three forecasts (conservative, baseline, and aggressive) for China's wind market were developed, detailing wind energy capacity additions through 2020.

Guodian Group to build 100MW wind power project in Chifeng

2008 November 7th, Guodian Group's Chifeng Longyuan Power Generation Company signed 100MW wind power project development agreement with Shuangta District government.

The total investment will be 1 billion RMB, the project will start in the second half 2009, and get completed in one year.

Shandong Changdao Offshore Wind Power Project Under Evaluation

Recently Shandong Tianrong New Energy Development Company's Changdao Offshore Wind Power project evaluation meeting was held in Jinan city Shandong province.

The total planned capacity for the offshore wind power project is 300MW. And the first phase project capacity is 48MW, and 24 sets of 2MW wind turbines will be installed.

China's Fast Growing Renewable Energies

By Joao Alves, Vice President, Capital Eight, on Tuesday, 11 November 2008

The rapid pace of growth and the environmental impacts of a coal-based economy have led China to look at renewable energies for sustainable development. Government action and private initiative are creating one of the largest Alternative Energies producers in the world, with Wind Power taking a prominent position and major foreign companies already present or looking to enter the market.

In today's context of scarce and expensive traditional energy sources, renewables are once again becoming a more and more popular alternative worldwide. China's specific situation is nowadays especially important for several reasons, including:

- The sheer size of the country its population, which in 2007 accounted for 16.8 per cent of the worldwide consumption of primary energy (only surpassed by the United States);
- Its economic growth and resulting increase in energy needs (10 per cent per year since 2000), both for producing goods and to meet improving living standards;
- The environmental impact of traditional energy sources (China depends on coal for 69 per cent of its energy) and the uncomfortable position of being one of the world's two largest emitters of CO2;
- Its geological features, in which the existing reserves of oil, natural gas and coal might be completely used in 15, 30 and 80 years respectively;
- China wanting to be, as much as possible, self-sufficient energy wise (and, hence, the ongoing acquisition of foreign energy assets, in Africa, Asia and even Europe).
- The increased use of renewable energy sources would address all these issues, at least partially. However, by then end of 2006, renewables accounted for just 7 per cent of China's total primary energy consumption.

Government Guidance

The Chinese Government has been stepping up its efforts in fostering the development of alternative energies. This becomes clear if we look at four key documents:

- The Renewable Energies Law, issued in February 2005 ("Law"), that establishes the general guidelines for the industry in areas such as pricing, cost sharing and financing, among others;
- The Medium and Long-Term Development Plan for Renewable Energy in China, published in September 2007 ("Plan"), stating that by 2020, 15 per cent of all energy should come from renewable sources, with a 30 per cent share by 2050. By 2020, according to the Plan, 300 GW of hydro capacity, 30 GW of wind, 30 GW of biomass and 1.8 GW of solar energy should be installed;
- The Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries, amended in October 2007 ("Catalogue"), which places the "construction and management of new energy power plants (solar energy, wind energy, magnetic energy, geothermal energy, tide energy and biological mass energy, etc.)" in the Encouraged Industries category;
- The White Paper: China's Policies and Actions on Climate Change, released in October 2008, that places an emphasis on energy conservation and optimisation of the energy mix, namely by reducing the role of coal as the primary energy source.

The Specific Case Of Wind Power

According to data from the European Wind Energy Association, China was the fifth-largest wind energy producer worldwide at the end of 2007. With an installed capacity of 6GW (3.5GW installed during 2007 alone), it still trails Germany (22.2GW) and Spain (16.8GW) by a large margin.

While these figures show that there is still a reasonably wide gap between the 6GW of installed capacity and the 30GW objective for 2020, the truth is that at this rate, the Government's goals seem very conservative. Greenpeace has stated that by 2020 China will have 50-100GW of installed capacity, while China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has been quoted as admitting that 120GW is a more likely scenario by 2020. Considering the official surveys that estimate a 1000GW feasible wind power capacity, this seems well within reach.

A couple of areas have been subject to most attention and investment: the first one is in the North-Northwest, especially in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang; the second area is along China's coastline, from Shandong all the way around to Guangxi. Additionally, offshore wind resources, although less explored, offer the greatest promise.

However, two very significant barriers have stood in the way of foreign investment in such a high potential industry: 1) the bidding system used to award major projects. Chinese companies tend to win the largest, centrally awarded projects by proposing to sell electricity to the grid at very low prices. These companies are apparently not so concerned with making money from renewables as they are with having a certain percentage of alternative energies in their energy portfolio, in order to meet Government demands; and 2) in a country where the market has little say in energy prices (the most notable cases being the low gas prices that have lead the government to compensate oil majors) it has been difficult for western companies to devise a profitable operation under these constraints.

Despite these barriers, foreign companies have been investing in two areas in the industry in China:

- Wind Turbine Manufacturers. The two largest companies worldwide are already manufacturing in China. The Danish company Vestas, with a 23 per cent global market share, has been producing in China since 2005, with several factories in Tianjin. The Spanish group Gamesa, with a 15 per cent global market share, has invested EUR40m to achieve a 700MW yearly turbine production capacity, also in Tianjin - and China is already responsible for 15 per cent of worldwide sales. Other large players, such as GE, Suzlon and Nordex, are also manufacturing locally.

- Wind Energy Producers. Australian company Roaring 40s is currently involved in seven wind farms (under construction and operating), in Shandong and Jilin provinces. It operates under a very specific JV model with a Chinese SOE partner (three projects with one company, four projects with another), looking for smaller projects (50MW) and negotiating directly with local authorities, therefore avoiding the larger, centrally awarded projects where large Chinese companies control their turf. Recently, it has signed an agreement with Datang Jilin Power Generation, a large traditional energy producing SOE, to develop a 1000MW wind farm. Construction will begin in 2008, and will be one of the largest projects in the world.

Another company involved in seven projects, all in Inner Mongolia, is Honiton Energy Holdings, which also operates in 50MW incremental projects but for larger wind farms. The company is based in China but has foreign investors and was recently acquired by a Dubai Investment Bank and a Singapore operator, in a USD2 bn deal. Unlike Roaring 40s, Honiton approaches each project alone, without JVs with Chinese companies. An interesting landmark achieved, according to the company, was the signing of the first Power Purchasing Agreement by a foreign firm - 25 years in duration, the first 35,000 hours will be sold at RMB0.548kw/h and subsequently at existing market prices.

Barriers Are Real, But Investment Opportunities Exist

There are still important obstacles in the way of foreign investment with some large infrastructure/energy focused funds finding it nearly impossible to enter the market. Private equity funds have confirmed that they have been looking at some renewable energy projects, but could not make the numbers work, at least for energy production. In equipment manufacturing, the outlook seems brighter.

However, the cases presented above prove that China is currently a real market in renewables - both for power generation as well as for manufacturing equipment. Like in most sectors in the country, it's essential to be ingenious, flexible and persistent to overcome existing obstacles.

Hebei Province to build 10 million kilowatt wind power base

November 07, 2008

China Knowledge quoted an official with the Hebei Development and Reform Commission said North China's Hebei province is mulling a large wind power base with installed capacity of 10 million kilowatts.

Upon completion, the new base will be able to generate 23 billion kWh of electricity per year. The Top 5 Chinese power groups, namely China Power Investment Corporation, China Huaneng Group, Guodian Power Corporation, China Datang Corporation and China Huadian Group have started or planned to set up wind power plants in the province.

Currently, there are over 10 wind power plants in the province with a combined installed capacity of 800,000 kilowatts. The wind power plants which are still under construction have a total installed capacity of 1.8 million kilowatts. The provincial government plans to expand the capacity to 3 million kilowatts by 2010.

Solar Power Generation Cost to Drop to CNY1 per KWH in 2012

WUXI, Nov 07, 2008 (SinoCast via COMTEX) -- China's generation cost of solar power will reach CNY 1 per KWH in 2012, predicted Shi Zhengrong, board chairman and CEO of Suntech Power.

Peng Xiaofeng, board chairman and CEO of solar wafer manufacturer LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), declares that the financial crisis will further lower the company's procurement and labor costs by 40% to 50%.


And China Guodian Corporation (CGDC) has announced the foundation of Guodian Ningxia Solar Energy Company, to build polycrystalline silicon and thin-film cell projects, with a designed production capacity of 10,000 tons per year.


Moreover, Huaneng New Energy Industrial Co., Ltd. (HNEIC) General Manager Zhao Shiming releases that the generation cost of wind power has dropped to CNY 0.5 to CNY 0.6 per KWH, and that of thermal power is CNY 0.2 to CNY 0.3 per KWH.


Shanghai Electric Group Co., Ltd. (SEHK: 2727) Board Chairman and CEO Xu Jianguo reveals that wind power equipment has contributed to 50% of the company's sales revenues, and 60% of its profit.

BP quits wind farm project with China's Goldwind

SHANGHAI, Nov 6 (Reuters) - BP Alternative Energy, a unit of oil group BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), has pulled out of a partnership in a wind farm project with a subsidiary of Goldwind Science & Technology Co 002202.SZ, Goldwind said on Thursday.

Goldwind, China's largest maker of wind turbines, said BP had decided to suspend its wind power business in Asia, according to a statement posted on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

BP Alternative Energy and Beijing Tianrun New Energy Investment Co, a subsidiary of Goldwind, signed a framework agreement in January to develop wind farms with planned total capacity of 148.5 megawatts (MW) in Inner Mongolia, China's top base for wind power.

A Goldwind statement from January said BP would buy a 49 percent stake in the joint venture.
China ranked as the world's fifth-largest for installed wind capacity in 2007, accounting for about 6 percent of the total 94 gigawatts (GW), according to the Global Wind Energy Council.

Goldwind said the construction of the wind farm was expected to be completed in February 2009, and it was seeking new partners.

BP Alternative Energy combines BP's interests in low and zero-carbon power generation, including wind, solar and hydrogen power.

China and India on track for wind sector dominance

Report claims China could replace Germany as biggest generator of wind power as early as next year

BusinessGreen.com staff, BusinessGreen, 05 Nov 2008

The growing influence China and India wield over the global wind energy sector has been underlined after new research suggested both countries are fast closing the capacity gap on more established markets such as Germany and the US.

The study from the Global Wind Energy Council confirmed that at the end of 2007 Germany continued to hold the top spot with 22.3GW of installed capacity compared with 16.8GW in the US and 15.1GW in Spain.

However, India with 7.8GW and China with 5.9GW made up the top five and both reported rapid growth with India installing an extra 1.5GW of capacity and China taking the title of fastest-growing market, achieving 145 per cent growth over the course of the year.

The report, which was released late last week, predicted that with China now boasting the world's largest turbine manufacturing sector through companies such as Goldwind, Sinovel Wind and Dongfang, the country is on track to take Germany's title of largest wind energy generator as early as 2009.

It also claimed that the rapid expansion of the wind energy sector in emerging economies meant that wind could generate up to 12 per cent of the world's power by 2020 - saving 10 billion tonnes of carbon in the process - and represent almost a third of the global energy mix by 2050.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged this week that Indian turbine maker Suzlon Energy is to undertake a share issue to finance the acquisition of an extra 22 per cent stake in Germany's REpower Systems.

The company already holds a 66 per cent stake in REpower Systems, but according to India's Business Standard is committed to bolstering its stake and is in talks with a number of private equity firms about raising the required funds through a share sale.