In 2010, China’s speed in wind power development was probably one of the most discussed topics in the global wind power industry. Based in Beijing and looking at the development from this part of the world, I have made a couple of observations about the Chinese market trends in 2011. One thing is clear. While China continues to focus on building its own renewable energy infrastructure and establishing Beijing’s ambitious wind power capacity goals, the Chinese wind power industry has definitely started to gear up and they are eyeing West.
Over the past few months, it has become obvious that big wind power players such as Sinovel, Dong Fang Electric Corporation and Goldwind are heavily investing in quality and R&D. Not only are they making technical updates on turbines that are currently still in production, but they are also bringing the already installed turbines up-to-date, and focusing on permanent magnet generator and full-power converter technology, grid compatibility and fault ride-through capabilities with the intent to boost their product reliability. Chinese manufacturers have a strong intent to tap the US market.
What does this mean for European manufacturers, then? I think it is a definite wake-up call for the traditional players, and if they don’t want to miss the train and lose appeal in the US, they’d better hurry up in their product updates.
Carlo Cecchi, Business Development Director
