China Renewable Energy Industry Report: Sept. 27

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Sept. 27 – This is a regular series of relevant industry news from around China.

New hydropower capacity in China reaches 8.17 gigawatts in Jan-Aug 2011
China installed 8.17 gigawatts of new hydropower capacity and 32.24 gigawatts of thermal power capacity in the first eight months of 2011, data by the National Energy Administration show.

National power consumption from January through August reached 3,124 TWh, up 11.9 percent on the year.

Power generating facilities throughout China recorded average utilization hours of 3,211 hours, or 49 more than a year before. Hydropower installations registered average utilization hours of 2,100, down by 178.

AMSC takes legal action against Sinovel
American Superconductor Corp said on Sept. 14 it is suing China’s Sinovel Wind Group Co Ltd for theft of intellectual property and agreement breaches.

AMSC said it believes that Sinovel illegally got hold of and utilized AMSC’s IP to upgrade its 1.5-megawatt wind turbines to meet proposed Chinese grid codes and to potentially allow for the use of core electrical components from other makers.

AMSC said it is seeking damages and putting an end to IP infringing.

China Longyuan gets nod for 49.5 megawatt wind farm project in Xinjiang
Wind farm developer and operator China Longyuan Power Group Corp said on Sept. 15 it had received the green light to build a 49.5-megawatt wind farm in Habahe County, Xinjiang.

Approval was granted by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission.

A few days ago, Longyuan reported wind power output for August 2011 of 694,048 MWh, up 12.42 percent year-on-year.

For the eight months through August, the company produced 16,592,970 MWh of power, up 20.48 percent in annual terms. A total of 8,520,764 MWh came from the wind power segment.

E.ON in talks to collaborate with Chinese wind turbine makers – report
The climate and renewables unit of Germany’s E.ON AG is holding discussions with Chinese wind turbine manufacturers about future sourcing of locally produced turbines, the subsidiary’s CFO told Reuters on Sept. 16.

Cord Landsmann told the agency in an interview that E.ON has been negotiating the matter with half a dozen turbine makers and is carefully checking costs and benefits.

The CFO, however, said that setting up wind farms in China is not on the agenda right now.

Earlier this month, the German utility sealed an agreement with U.S. conglomerate General Electric that will see GE provide 188 wind turbines with a total capacity of 300 megawatts for two U.S. wind farms.

Although China has become the biggest wind power market in the world in terms of installed capacity, E.ON is paying more attention to the European and U.S. markets because of the favorable market conditions there, Reuters said.

Landsmann also made it clear that the German company does not seek to buy stakes in wind turbine producers.

Korean HANWHA to set up Chinese headquarters
Korean conglomerate HANWHA GROUP will set up its Chinese headquarters in Dalian in Liaoning Province in a bid to boost its business in the country, Asia in Focus reported.

The company currently has its eyes set on China’s solar energy market. HANWHA will also seek to broaden its business to various sectors, including trade, finance and leisure.

Keum Choon-soo, who is at the helm of the company’s newly-established unit Hanwha Group China, said that China will serve as HANWHA’s strategic base in its expansion efforts.

JinkoSolar temporarily closes Zhejiang plant on environmental issues
Chinese solar product maker JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd said on Sept. 19 it had suspended operations at its solar cell factory in Haining, Zhejiang Province, due to environmental concerns.

According to recent reports, the company has discharged hazardous waste into a local river. Residents have been protesting for several days.

Currently, the local environmental protection authority is investigating the incident. Preliminary results shows that the pollution may be due to the improper storage of waste containing fluoride.

Jinko expects that the plant, capable of producing 1,100 megawatts of solar cells per year, will be operational in a few days. To fill the gap, the company plans to outsource cell processing to a third party. The temporary shutdown is not seen to have any material impact on module delivery, Jinko said.

China Wind Power starts building 198-MW wind power complex
China Wind Power International Corp said on Sept. 19 it has kicked off construction of a 198-megawatt wind farm project in China’s northeastern Heilongjiang Province.

Foundation work is already in progress, while the whole facility is to be completed by the middle of 2012. It will include four 49.5-megawatt wind farms, whose total output is estimated at 400 million kWh a year. The project represents the third phase of a larger 800-megawatt wind power development in Heilongjiang to be built in five stages.

In August, China Wind Power awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement for the 198-megawatt project to wind turbine maker China Ming Yang Wind Power Group.

Tianneng Power to make renewable energy storage batteries in Henan
Chinese Tianneng Power International Ltd will build production facilities in the northeastern Henan Province to make electric vehicle batteries and lead batteries for wind power and solar power storage.

The company said on Sept. 19 that it had agreed with the government of Puyang city to build there the Tianneng Group cycle economic development zone.

Investment in the project is estimated at around CNY3 billion (US$ 470 million). As part of the plan, Tianneng will set up a unit to be in charge of the project’s development.

China still at the top of Ernst & Young’s green energy indices
China is still number one in the latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices of U.S. audit and consultancy company Ernst & Young, followed by Germany, the United State, the United Kingdom and India.

The Chinese government has recently announced that it would launch tenders for 2.0 gigawatts of offshore wind power capacity, as part of its plan to have 5.0 gigawatts of offshore wind installations by 2015.

Germany, second in the indices, climbed by two points in Ernst & Young’s wind index after it unveiled a US$6.8 billion incentives scheme to back offshore wind power development.

The UK, which is fourth on Ernst & Young’s list, dropped by a point in the wind index after Freedom of Information data showed that some 50 percent of all onshore wind power projects were rejected at the planning stage. Many sector players expect cuts in the incentives for onshore wind farms.

Tianwei New Energy to supply 10 megawatts of solar modules to China Datang
Chinese solar wafer maker Tianwei New Energy Wafer Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Baoding Tianwei Group, said on Sept. 20 it had agreed to deliver 10 megawatts of solar modules to power producer China Datang Corp.

Under the contract, Tianwei New Energy will supply the modules to Datang’s solar project in Delhi, in China’s Qinghai Province, in September and October.

This is the first ground-mounted solar power project that Tianwei and Datang collaborate on, according to Tianwei New Energy.

Inner Mongolia Eerduosi to establish photovoltaic material unit
China’s Inner Mongolia Eerduosi Resourses Co Ltd has allocated CNY100 million (US$15.7 million) for the establishment of a photovoltaic material unit, it said.

The new subsidiary will make and sell various photovoltaic products including solar panels.

The unit will have an annual capacity of 500 megawatts of polycrystalline silicon ingot slices and modules, and 500 megawatts of monocrystalline silicon stretch and modules.

TUV Rheinland, China General Certification to partner on solar products certification
German technical, safety and certification services provider TUV Rheinland and China General Certification Centre will team up in the provision of testing and certification services for solar product makers.

The collaboration will help Chinese producers seeking to export their products abroad and foreign producers targeting to enter the Chinese market, the partners said in a joint statement on Sept. 20.

UK Ecofin, Chinese Origo unveil US$200 million alternative energy fund in China
UK utility and infrastructure investment company Ecofin and Chinese Origo Partners Plc have established a US$200 million fund to invest in alternative energy, water and energy storage projects in China.

The private equity fund, China Cleantech Partners, will invest directly in target firms, or indirectly through Origo’s US$78 million renewable energy fund with the government of Xinxiang.

Origo and Ecofin have already committed US$15 million to the new fund, while they expect to reach US$75 million in partnership commitments later this year. The partners plan final closing of the fund in 2012, when it reaches US$200 million.

Shanghai Aerospace to build solar projects, make solar equipment in Zhangye
Shanghai Aerospace Automobile Electromechanical Co Ltd and the city of Zhangye in Gansu Province will jointly develop solar power projects and make solar power equipment.

The agreement between the company and the city’s municipal government is for five years, Shanghai Aerospace said in a statement last week.

The company is principally engaged in new energy development. It also makes car spare parts, solar batteries, fuel oil pipes and car electronic products. In July, Shanghai Aerospace unveiled a plan to raise up to CNY2.2 billion (US$344 million) in a stock offering to finance solar power projects.

China may account for 23 percent of world’s new renewable energy capacity by 2030
China could bring 23 percent of all new renewable energy installations around the globe by 2030 and up to 32 percent of all newly added power generation capacity, according to a report by McKinsey and Co.

In the next 20 years, 32 percent of all new hydropower capacity may come from China. Its share in the world’s new wind and nuclear power capacity is seen to reach 26 percent and 47 percent, respectively.

McKinsey estimates that from 2010 through 2030 the Asian country will spend some US$130 billion a year to grow its power capacity. Half of all new power facilities will use renewable energy sources.

Huadian Power grows hydropower capacity via sector acquisitions
Chinese power producer Huadian Power International Corp will add to its asset portfolio 32.78 megawatts of installed hydropower capacity in Sichuan plus over 1 gigawatt of preliminary project through two sector acquisitions.

The company has agreed to acquire all of the stock of Sichuan Huoxing Investment Co Ltd for CNY825.3 million (US$129 million) and 100 percent in Sichuan Xiexing Investment Co Ltd for CNY 864.8 million (US$135 millin). Together the two companies hold stakes in Sichuan Liangshan Shuiluohe Hydropower Development Co Ltd and six other hydropower firms.

Huoxing Investment and Xiexing Investment’s total installed capacity is 32.78 megawatts, while they have 392.74 megawatts under construction and 793.12 megawatts in preliminary projects.

Everphoton achieves 32 percent efficiency in HCPV module
Taiwan-based Everphoton Energy Corp Inc has reached a conversion efficiency of 32.02 percent in its high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) module, solar industry portal Solarbuzz reports.

The Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, the national research unit for HCPV technology, provided the test on Everphoton’s Pawian II module in its HCPV testing laboratory, which is the only one in Asia and is certified by Underwriters Laboratories.

Pawian II module is equipped with receivers of “independent heat sink” that enable increased conversion efficiency. The “independent heat sink” device is replaceable and allows the module to be repaired.

According to Everphoton’s CEO and president, Eric Chen, this design helps reduce the cost of the solar system and makes the HCPV technology price competitive.

The company will install Pawian II modules in the Masdar solar project in Abu Dhabi which is slated for completion by the end of the year.

This industry report brief is courtesy of AII Data Processing.

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Foreign Investment in China’s Green Sector
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