The installed capacity has leapt to the top in the world and the Chinese wind power industry still needs to “pass five levels”

In the past year, the wind power industry has undoubtedly become a bright spot for the development of renewable energy in China. According to the latest data, as of the end of 2010, China’s annual wind power generation capacity reached 16 million kilowatts, and the cumulative installed capacity reached 41.827 million kilowatts, which surpassed that of the United States and ranked first in the world.

This also means that in just a few years, China has become the world's largest consumer and producer of wind power equipment. In addition, it has created two of the world's top five wind turbine manufacturers.

Shi Lishan, deputy director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Division of the National Energy Administration, disclosed that in the forthcoming "12th Five-Year Plan", renewable energy including wind energy will occupy a more important strategic position.

Whoever occupies the future of energy will have the space for future development. After the financial crisis, in the wave of global "green" energy development, wind power has won a certain degree of opportunity for China and played an irreplaceable role in coping with diversified energy structure and low-carbon development.

Although the installed capacity of wind power in China exceeded that of the United States in 2010, the power generation capacity was only 50 billion kwh, which is still lower than that of the United States. At the same time, the old and new wounds in the wind power industry in China did not heal. If China truly wants to transform itself from a wind turbine manufacturing country into a wind turbine using a big country, it still needs to “pass five levels.”

First, the issue of fan quality emerged. In 2010, from the collapse of an East Gas blower of Ningxia Net China Shenzhou Wind Power Co., Ltd., a number of quality incidents have caused the leading manufacturers of wind turbines to become involved in the quality whirlpool. The top five of the domestic machine manufacturing were almost completely spared. Although the occurrence of wind turbine accidents is caused by improper operation, the hidden quality of wind turbines, such as the breakdown of wind turbines, the breakage of wind turbine blades or spindles, motor ignition, gear box damage, and control failure, are undoubtedly plaguing the Chinese wind power industry.

Second, the disadvantages of lack of core technology appear. The domestic wind power industry has always valued the increase in installed capacity and the upgrading of wind turbines. In contrast, foreign wind power giants are more concerned about the cost of electricity. Although the price of wind turbines in China is about 20% cheaper than that of foreign wind turbines, and they quickly occupy a large number of markets, the lack of core technology will undoubtedly restrict the long-term development of China's wind power industry.

At present, China’s high-quality wind farm resources have almost been mined. Due to the obvious tendency of low-level redundant construction, in 2009, the wind power equipment industry was listed by the State Council as one of the key areas for curbing excess capacity. Although the overcapacity has caused market disputes, the trend of new wind power installations slowing down shows that the manufacturing advantages of wind power companies are gradually declining. How to no longer rely on foreign technology and transform the advantages of low manufacturing cost into a brand with technological content will undoubtedly become a problem for the Chinese wind power industry.

Third, the bottleneck on the Internet has not been resolved. Since the construction of power grids has lagged far behind the installed speed of wind power, the “disposal of wind” incidents of power grids has occurred from time to time, which has been criticized by the wind power industry. For the sake of interests, some local governments are exclusive in the approval of wind power projects, and local power grids do not cooperate with the grid connection issue, which increases the cost and difficulty of grid connection for wind power companies. In general, the combined capacity of the advanced foreign countries will not exceed 10%, while in China it will be as high as 30%, which will seriously affect the improvement of wind power efficiency and economic efficiency.

Fourth, there is an urgent need for improvement in international competitiveness. In recent years, China’s large-scale wind power companies represented by Sinovel and Goldwind have taken overseas markets as an important development direction, and domestic wind power companies have generally lacked experience in overseas operations. In addition, trade disputes in the clean energy sector have frequently appeared. How to enhance the international competitiveness of Chinese wind power companies and gradually put it on the agenda.

Fifth, the policy system needs to be improved. Compared to fossil energy, wind power is undoubtedly an excellent clean energy source. However, wind power itself has “congenitally deficient” such as unstable power generation, high cost, and long transmission distance. At the same time, it also faces grid bottlenecks, capital and technical problems, disorderly expansion, incomplete detection and certification system, lack of operation and maintenance experience, and international trade disputes. And other "acquired bottlenecks." After the wind power installed capacity has leapt to the top in the world, timely improvement of the policy system, the elimination of various bottlenecks, and the cultivation of large-scale wind power companies with core competitiveness will become a realistic issue for the future development of China's wind power industry.

Behind the "windowlessness" of China's wind power industry, people are left with more meditation. China's "big windmills" need not only to turn faster, but also need to make better and more profits.