CGN starts wind farm with hybrid turbines

The 401.5 megawatt Yangjiang Nanpeng Island offshore wind farm, featuring hybrid-drive wind turbines supplied by Mingyang Smart Energy, was fully commissioned on Dec 16, said its operator China General Nuclear Power Corp, one of the country's largest nuclear power companies.

The project saw its first turbine installed at the site off Guangdong province in July last year, and its first batch of wind turbines commenced operations in October. It is expected to generate more than 1 billion kilowatts each year, saving more than 310,000 metric tons of standard coal and reducing 830,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, CGN said.

Construction on the project began in the summer of 2018 and has been progressing at full speed despite some obstacles and challenges, including COVID-19.

The project is a benchmark for future offshore wind farm facilities, said Li Yilun, president of CGN New Energy Holdings Co Ltd.

Li said the company has the capacity to provide engineering management and construction services for other offshore wind development projects and will combine its advantages in development, investment and construction in the future and positively advance toward the goal of becoming a backbone of national offshore wind development and a leader in practicing national maritime strategy.

The project is in accordance with the government's efforts to promote renewable energy, as progress toward using more clean energy has been accelerating over the past few years in the country, said Wang Ziyue, an analyst at research firm BloombergNEF.

It will also provide precious experience for its future projects, Wang said.

President Xi Jinping, addressing the Climate Ambition Summit earlier this month, announced that China will lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by more than 65 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels and increase its share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 25 percent. It will also increase its forest stock by 6 billion cubic meters from 2005 levels by 2030, and bring its total installed capacity of wind and solar power to over 1.2 billion kilowatts.

Industry insiders said that pushing forward the rapid development of wind and solar power is key to improving the country's energy mix, and China's wind power development is focusing more than ever on offshore wind farm construction, which is bringing bright prospects to the sector.

Luan Dong, China renewables analyst at BloombergNEF, said he believes the country should be able to surpass the 1,200-gigawatt target, and the country's international pledge regarding renewable capacity is encouraging.

The company has been actively promoting clean energy development including nuclear, wind, biomass and solar over the past few years as well as expanding its clean energy business overseas since 2010 in countries including France, South Korea and Egypt. Its total installed domestic capacity of new energy is expected to reach 24 million kW by the end of this year, up from 20.54 million kW as at the end of May.

Total domestic new energy assets reached 194.7 billion yuan ($27.74 billion), with net assets reaching 58.8 billion yuan by July.

The firm said its on-grid power capacity reached 261.6 billion kW last year, equal to carbon dioxide emission reductions of more than 210 million tons.

Peng Peng, secretary-general of the China New Energy Investment and Financing Alliance, an industry group, said after 15 years of rapid development of wind power, China has gained rich experience and developed most of the regions suitable for turbine installation.

According to National Energy Administration data, as of the end of September, China's total installed capacity of solar and wind power stood at 750 million kW, over half the target of 1.2 billion kW by 2030.