Wind Power News: China
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Update: ‘One dead, one missing’ after China turbine blaze
An engineer has died and another classed as missing after a wind turbine made by China’s CSR caught fire in Inner Mongolia, according to local reports. The accident happened at the Zhurihe Wind Farm No. 2 in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia, operated by Huaneng Renewables, says Chinese business newspaper 21cbh. The two maintenance staff were carrying out work on the turbine’s power converter, which was manufactured by AMSC of the US, sources told the newspaper. AMSC spokesman Jason Fredette says the . . .
Slow down the wind
At its birth in 2008, China Wind Power (CWP) exhibition only attracted 200 exhibitors, and the exhibition area only covered 10,000 square meters. Three years later, CWP 2011 attracted more than 600 exhibitors, and the exhibition areas covered 50,000 square meters. Xia Lihua, General Manager of CCID Conference and Exhibition Co. Ltd., which is co-organizer of the event, said CWP has become the world’s third biggest and Asia’s biggest wind power exhibition. “The scale is closely related to the development . . .
Offshore wind projects run into turbulence
Construction work at four offshore wind farm projects in Jiangsu province has not started a year after they were awarded to major state-owned power firms at prices widely seen as too low to be profitable. While the tenders were organised by Beijing, critics levelled accusations of conflicts of interest within departments of some local governments over land allocation. Chinese Wind Energy Association vice-president Shi Pengfei said some local government agencies wanted the developers to move their projects further offshore to . . .
China’s windfarms: new safety fears
China is the biggest wind turbine maker – and consumer – in the world. But its wind industry is increasingly being plagued by safety concerns, most recently with an accident this week that killed five people. The sleek modernity of today’s wind turbines belies the dangers inherent in their operation: technicians can get hurt falling from their tall towers or tangling with powerful moving parts inside the turbine itself. This week China saw one of its most deadly wind accidents . . .
More details on crane collapse
We now have more definitive details on the tragic crane collapse that occurred in China on Tuesday taking five lives. And can now confirm that it was a 1,000 tonne crawler crane. The crane a Zoomlion QUY 1000 crawler crane owned by Ningxia Tianxin Construction and development was lifting a 5MW wind turbine nacelle at the production facility of Sinovel where it was made. The load was recorded as 318 tonnes which was within the cranes capacity. As the crane . . .
Five killed during Sinovel 5MW installation
CHINA: Five people, including a Communist Party official, were killed last night after a crawler crane toppled while a Sinovel 5MW turbine was being erected. The ceremony, to commemorate the installation of the turbine, was disrupted when the arm of the 1,000-ton crane, toppled and fell down suddenly in a trial operation to lift a wind turbine. Five people were killed after being crushed beneath the crane. They included Yu Yongdong, Chinese Communist Party secretary of the Jiuquan industrial park . . .
Crane collapse kills five in China
Five people have died and one was injured last night when a crane collapsed in northwest China’s Gansu Province. Few details of the incident are available but according to reports the accident occurred late last night at a wind power equipment company in Jiuquan. The boom of the crane is said to have ‘broken’ during a lifting operation, instantly crushing five workers to death. The injured person was in serious condition and taken to a nearby hospital, but his injuries . . .
China hits brakes on wind energy growth
CHINA: China’s wind capacity will grow by around 15GW a year up until 2015 according to Liang Zhipeng, deputy director of the department of new energy and renewable energy under the National Energy Bureau (NEB). When compared to the 18.92GW installed in 2010, the figures confirm China’s wind energy growth is continuing to slow. China’s wind turbine installed capacity has experienced a rapid growth during 2007-2010, with newly added capacity of 3.31GW, 6.15GW, 13.8GW and 18.92GW each year, respectively. However, . . .
China plans stricter grid code for turbines in bid to curb outages
China is introducing a stricter grid code that will reduce the risk of power outages at big wind farms, but will add costs and slow turbine sales. The new code demands that projects use only turbines with low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability. This technology, which keeps turbines operating even after a large drop in voltage, has become increasingly vital following a series of major outages at wind farms this year. On 17 April, 702 turbines tripped off the grid at a . . .
SERC inspecting wind farms after disconnections
BEIJING – The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) will conduct nationwide inspections this month of wind power facilities after a series of large-scale disconnections that threatened the stability of the power grid. SERC said on Wednesday that the inspections, which will run all month, will include wind farm safety management, operations, grid connections and the actual wind turbines. The move follows four massive incidents in Jiuquan, Gansu province, one of the most important wind power bases in China, in which . . .
