Blowing in the wind: Too many turbines and too few grids
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Xinhua, September 5, 2011
Despite these problems, state-owned power companies are continuing to build new wind farms. Their zeal can be partially attributed to the government's requirement that power companies must use non-hydropower renewable energy sources to generate at least 8 percent of their power by 2020.
This requirement is part of the government's pledge to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions. Wind power is believed to be the cheapest and most efficient renewable power sources available to these companies.To solve power transmission problems, the State Grid has invested 41.8 billion yuan (US$6.53 billion) to construct 23,200 kilometers of transmission lines. However, even this amount will be far from enough.
Better option
Shi Lishan, the deputy director of the new energy and renewable energy department of the National Energy Bureau (NEB), thinks there might be a better option. Shi says that China should build wind farms in areas with lower average wind speeds, as opposed to expanding existing wind power farms and transmitting power over great distances.
The China Wind Energy Association (CWEA) says that about 68 percent of the country's viable wind power-generating regions qualify as low wind speed areas. China's wind power industry is mainly concentrated in its northern and southeastern regions, where wind speeds are typically quite high.
Bai Jianhua, director of the State Grid energy strategy and planning research institute, says China will expand its installed wind power capacity in low wind speed areas to 20 GW, or about 20 percent of the country's installed wind power capacity, by the end of 2015.
China has made a substantial step in this regard. Longyuan completed constructing a 200MW low-speed wind farm in Lai'an, Chuzhou City of central Anhui Province, on May 10. It is expected to generate 390 million kWh electricity per year.
Longyuan says the wind farm may run for nearly 2,000 hours a year, compared with 2,600-2,800 hours in the northern areas. But Lai'an sits near the terminal users of the East China Grid, which will ensure wind turbines run at full capacity. China has many similar areas like Lai'an that are based in Anhui, Hubei, Fujian and Yunnan provinces, all big users of electric power.
