Newly installed capacity from Dongfang Turbine Co Ltd units made in Deyang, Sichuan province, is nearly 100 million kW annually. Hai Mingwei / Xinhua

CHENGDU - With China's oceanic wind power supply expected to hit 30 gigawatts by 2020, top domestic producer Dongfang Turbine Co Ltd is moving to meet the need through mass production of turbines whose blades span 140 meters.

Wang Bing, deputy director of the wind power division of the State-owned enterprise, told the China New Energy International Summit 2011 in Chengdu that domestic firms can now commercially manufacture units that produce 7.5 magawatts of electricity an hour.

But "the 10 magawatt level is not feasible in China with current investment", he said.

"The 7.5 megawatt wind turbine for ocean wind power projects is the market that global producers put hefty investment into," he noted, but declined to release Dongfang Turbine's total spending for R&D and production of the units.

Market insiders say the cost of a single such new unit could surpass 26 million yuan, but then gradually become more affordable due to mass production.

Wang said the company's global competitors now include New York-based Windtech International, which has announced plans for an ambitious 10 megawatt unit, and California's Clipper Windpower, whose 7.5 megawatt wind turbine will soon be put into operation.

Dongfang's challenge is now "looking to the future - the 10 megawatt unit is not difficult to achieve if investment is sufficient" for the sophisticated research needed, Wang said.

Company statistics show annual new installed wind power capacity using Dongfang units is nearly 100 million kW.

By the end of last year, the company had 3,000 units in operation at 72 wind farms in China.

The value of the company's industrial output hit 20 million yuan last year.

Figures from the Global Wind Energy Council say China's investment in wind power rose 28 percent last year to 49.8 billion yuan. Total inland and coastal installed capacity reached 44.7 gigawatts, the most in the world.

According to Li Jianchun, secretary general of the Wind Power Industry Association of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the region expects wind power to account for 20 percent of its total power generation during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015).

Du Surong contributed to the story.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/11/2011 page15)