Province Plans to Build Windfarms along Coastal Areas

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--North China’s Shandong Province plans to build large windfarms along coastal areas, such as Binzhou, Dongying, Yantai, Weihai, Weifang and Qingdao cities, and to gradually develop wind resources from coastal areas to offshore locations. The Shandong Province’s Development and Reform Commission plans to expand the installed capacity of wind power in Shandong to 1,000 megawatts (MW) by the end of the 11th five-year plan (2006-10), and to 4,000 MW by the end of the following five-year plan.

There are 106 sets of wind generating units operating in Shandong with a total installed capacity of 92.2 MW, ranking No. 5 as of 2007, up from No. 10 in 2004. In addition, nine windfarms are under construction in Shandong with a total installed capacity of 436 MW, including 280 sets of 1,500-kilowatt wind-generating units.

Shandong Province’s wind resources are mainly concentrated in surrounding islands, peninsulas, areas with plateaus and ridges high above sea level, as well as in places in drought. In 1985, China’s first wind-power unit was built in Malanwan in Shandong Province’s Rongcheng city. However, wind-power development is restricted by two factors: high cost for generation and restriction on climate conditions.

Shandong will promote and accelerate the development of wind power based on the principles of scaled economy, large installation capacity, equipment localization and to drive the industrialized development of wind power equipment by scaled development in wind power. The province will focus on wind units with capacities of more than 1,000 kilowatts and will aim to introduce whole-set manufacture and start large-scale production in the province, the commission said.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) provides marketing communication services ranging from industrial database solutions to market forecasting, custom analytics, and specialty promotions that support high-level image campaigns.