Renewable Revolution

China Boosts Offshore Wind Power Development 
   

 Liu Yuanyuan, International Correspondent 
 May 22, 2014  |  1 Comments 

BEIJING -- China has taken steps to accelerate the development of its offshore wind power industry in a bid to increase the installed capacity beyond its 428.6 MW installed at the end of 2013.


Some industry analysts expressed pessimism concerning the offshore wind power sector in China as the industry has experienced slow progress with only 39 MW in installed capacity added last year, a year-on-year decline of 69 percent. However, the China National Renewable Energy Centre (CNREC) said that a number of new offshore wind farms are scheduled to kick off within this year, including the 100-MW Phase II expansion project of Don ghai Bridge in Shanghai and China Lon gyuan Power Group’ (Lon gyuan) Nanri Island project already under construction in Fujian province. Two projects are also under contruction in Jiangsu province: China General Nuclear Power Group's new offshore project in Rud ong on track to start construction in the second half of this year and Lon gyuan's windmill project in Dafeng.

In early 2014, the National Energy Administration (NEA) issued a Notice on Developing Offshore Wind Power Projects selecting Shanghai as well as Fujian and Zhejiang provinces as the locations for the country’s key pilot construction projects for offshore wind power. The Shanghai government announced in early May new initiatives to boost support for its new and renewable energy sectors, providing subsidies of 0.1 yuan per kWh for onshore wind power projects and 0.2 yuan per kWh for offshore wind farms. However, some industry analysts expressed concerns about the impact of regional subsidies on the nationwide feed-in tariff for offshore wind projects.

The rapid growth of the Chinese offshore wind power sector requires a rational and clear tariff structure, allowing offshore wind farm developers to have realistic expectations of what the return on their offshore wind power investments should be and in turn, boost the development of the whole sector, according to analysts.

The NEA and the pricing department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) have been in ongoing discussions concerning the tariff rates for offshore wind farms and expect to issue the rates within this year.

An industry expert at NDRC indicated that the combined capacity of approved offshore wind farms in China, including intertidal projects, has exceeded 4,000 MW. The combined capacity of offshore wind projects scheduled to start construction by 2015 will exceed 300 MW, according to data from CNREC.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said in early May that it will allocate up to $141 million to three pioneering offshore wind demonstration projects over the next four years to help speed up the deployment of more efficient offshore wind power technologies. Benefiting from the support for offshore wind projects in the U.S., Fishermen's Energy's 25MW offshore windmill backed by Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing, a China-based electrical equipment manufacturer, won a US$4 million grant from the DOE, subject to regulatory approvals.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/05/china-boosts-development-of-offshore-wind-power

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 A. G. Gelbert   
 May 22, 2014 

The rapid growth of the Chinese offshore wind power sector requires a rational and clear tariff structure, something the Chinese are serious and methodical about because they are clear eyed about what the future holds if they do not make sure ALL renewable energy technologies achieve the goal, and achieve it SOON, of total demand destruction for fossil fuels. That's what the USA can't seem to understand.

This is NOT about replacing an inferior technology for harvesting energy with a superior and cheaper technology; this is about Homo sapiens survival. The Chinese understand this. If only the USA did. We have, in the USA, the stupidest, most suicidal energy policy on the planet.

I hope the Chinese pull the plug on the building of coal power plants, decommission built ones and embrace Amory Lovins' accurate assessment of industrial civilization that with efficiency increases in the energy production technology from power source to consumer, over 90% of the wasted energy can be eliminated and we can power ALL the needs of present industrial civilization with only 10% of what we now use. It's called NEGAWATTS and it is REAL. Why? Because a 5 to 10% efficiency increase (easily achievable with modern technology) in the transmission and/or generation of power has a multiplicative effect when it reaches the consumer. A 5% efficiency increase at the generation source EQUALS over 70% energy saving at the consumer. That is why the consumer savings, so far, have had such a small effect on fossil fuel demand. That HAS to change. Amory Lovins knows how to do that and has been doing it for several years.

I think China gets it. Our US (s)elected (by the fossil fuel oligarchy) "representatives" don't.