Larger turbines boost China’s wind power: Ming Yang

More larger capacity turbines are being utilized in China to reduce costs.

More than 40 percent of new installations in China in 2012 will comprise turbines with capacities above 2 megawatts, said Zhang Chuanwei, CEO of China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd.

The market is dominated by 1.5-megawatt turbines, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which estimated that the larger machines accounted for less than 10 percent of installations last year.

“Developers have started leaning toward buying 2.5- or 3- megawatt turbines to enable them to use fewer machines to save on land costs,” said Zhang, whose company is the country’s fourth-biggest producer of the machines.

Growth in China’s wind industry is slowing after the government tightened approval for wind projects on concern over the ability of grids to carry electricity load. Turbine-makers including Ming Yang and the three biggest, Sinovel Wind Group Co., Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. and Guodian United Power Technology Co., produce machines that have larger capacities than the standard 1.5 megawatts.

China led the world in wind capacity last year, installing 18 gigawatts of wind farms, a 9 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. Zhang expects the country to add 18 to 20 gigawatts this year.

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