China has great prospects for vigorous development of wind energy

China has embarked on an active promotion of renewable energy and its promotion has never been more effective. A key element is that the number of wind turbines will triple in the next six years.

China is now the largest producer of wind energy in the world, but it still plans to expand wind energy production. China has an installed capacity of 75 gigawatts of wind power and plans to reach 200 gigawatts by 2020. This is an alarming number. On the contrary, the combined wind power capacity of the EU member states is just over 90 gigawatts.

China's western province of Xinjiang is one of seven designated wind energy development bases. Although there are many snow-covered mountains in Xinjiang, the number of turbines is still increasing in the frozen desert with thousands of speeds. The installation of new equipment has greatly accelerated the work process.

Jiang Bo, engineer at Goldwind Technologies, a manufacturing company, said: “Seven years ago, we could only produce a wind turbine in two days. However, we are now manufacturing two turbines a day.”

There is still a series of challenges to challenge the boom in wind energy development. The regions with the greatest wind power, such as Xinjiang, are basically far away from the major cities that are in short supply. Wind farms are built at a high speed, but the construction of connecting turbines and transmission grids cannot keep pace. The transmission grid itself is more suitable for those thermal power plants with stable output, and it is difficult to adapt wind power with less stable wind power. As a result, some wind farms have been ordered to close even in high winds, reducing production.

A more important issue is how much wind energy can satisfy China's endless energy demand. The latest data shows that in 2012, 2% of China's electricity came from wind power, and coal power accounted for 75%. However, the total output of China exceeds the sum of all EU countries, and the absolute value of wind energy production is still huge.

The director of the Global Wind Energy Council China Program, Qiao Liming, said: "2% may sound very small, but considering the total amount of electricity in China, this is not a lot." She said: "Actually, last year, wind energy exceeded nuclear power and became coal. The third largest energy source after electricity and hydropower has great potential."

The large-scale wind energy market encourages large-scale production, which will reduce costs and promote innovation. Now, the rapid development of wind energy has brought a new wave of design. For example, the wind turbine produced by Goldwind Technology does not require a gearbox because it comes with a cheaper "direct drive" system.

According to Paul Frankel, who is from the International Energy Association, the development of wind power in China will reduce the price of international wind energy. "As with many other things, what China has done will have an impact on the world and China will contribute to reducing the cost of wind energy in the following two aspects: The first is that the Chinese market is of vital importance and the development prospects are enormous. The second is China. Has a very robust and efficient production capacity."

Prospects The Chinese government has placed strategic priority on the development of sustainable energy and supported the rapid development of wind power through the subsidy system. The air pollution problem in many cities in China also makes the development of sustainable energy more reasonable. This goal is more practical than energy security and reducing carbon emissions. The remaining problem is whether the cost of wind energy can be reduced to lower than China’s main energy coal.

Jinfeng Ge Vice President Ma Jinru said: "Science and technology innovation will reduce the cost of wind energy, so the wind power industry will have tremendous progress in power supply."

If there is any country that can industrialize wind energy resources and profit from it, then only China. The future of wind energy can be seen on the Silk Road in Xinjiang: Metal-colored turbines stand like forests on this ancient trade route. Some of them have already been built. Others still need to install blades. There are still more to be needed. Detailed planning.