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Sinovel develops 3MW offshore wind turbine

By Guo Zhuo and Yang Cheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-24 08:09

On March 20, 2009, a 3MW wind turbine is installed successfully in the Shanghai East Sea Bridge's 100MW offshore wind farm - the nation's first pilot offshore wind power project.

On Dec 12, 2008, the Sinovel Wind Co Ltd and the China Renewable Energy Scale-up Program (CRESP) Management Office signed the CRESP Wind Turbine Technology Transfer (WTTT) Subcomponent Donation agreement.

The company applied for and secured financial support from the World Bank to research, produce, install, test and certify a 3MW offshore wind turbine system, in a bid to bridge the gap in China's wind energy sector. The company is also seeking to conform with a national initiative aimed at encouraging the development of large-MW wind power turbines and the establishment of a number of offshore wind farms.

Since the project was launched on Aug 27, 2007, Sinovel Wind has set up a special taskforce, headed by the company's general manager. The team is comprised of the company's deputy general manager and a number of top senior executives in charge of technology, research and development (R&D), production and client services.

At present, the 3MW offshore wind turbine industrialization project is said to be progressing well:

February 2007: Sinovel Wind Ltd signed a joint design and development contract with Austria Windtec Co.

April 2007: Conceptual design work was completed.

March 2008: Total design work was finished.

April 2008: Sinovel Wind signed certification contracts with the Germanisher Lloyd (GL) Group.

January and February 2009: Assembly test of prototype machines, in-factory tests and experiments commenced.

March 2009: The first 3MW wind turbine was shipped to the Shanghai East Sea Bridge project site and its integrated installation was successfully completed.

November 2009: 31 units of the 3MW wind turbines will be scheduled to be ready for shipment and certification.

Industry leader

Sinovel is the first company in China that has the capacity to build MW-level wind turbines.

In a bid to enhance its R&D capacity, sharpen its competitive edge in domestic and international markets and accelerate its sustainable development, the company has now set up a R&D center, employing some 200 veteran technology staff members in dedicated wind turbine research.

All of the staff have a background in aerodynamics, digital analysis, machinery, hydrodynamics, electronics, digital control or software development. The center has subsequently developed 1.5MW and 3MW turbines with the capability of matching the required standards for various wind and environment conditions.

Since May 2005, Sinovel Wind has also completed the design, R&D, testing, installation and operation, GL certification and production of its SL-1500 wind turbine range.

To date, the total installed capacity of wind turbines, made by Sinovel, has reached more than 3,000 MW.

In 2008, 935 wind turbine units were installed. Their total installed capacity exceeded 1,400 MW last year, accounting for 22.5 percent of the total new installed capacity for the whole of 2008 throughout China.

These achievements saw the company move to the top of the national rankings in terms of total installed capacity. It also placed it in seventh position globally last year.

It is envisaged that the 3MW wind turbine will become mainstream model in future in the world. The SL3000-series wind turbine, researched and developed independently by Sinovel, which retains full intellectual property rights (IPR), is now viewed as a state-of-the-art item of environmentally-friendly energy generation.

Its rated power generation is 3,000 KW and it features a rotor diameter of 90/100/105/110/115 m, as well as a hub height of 80/90/110 m. All of these specifications are strictly in line with IEC I/II/III-level wind farm requirements.

The turbine is divided into four series: 50 Hz offshore and inter-tidal series, the 60 Hz offshore and inter-tidal series, the 50 Hz onshore series and 60 Hz onshore series.

On March 20, 2009, Sinovel's first 3MW offshore wind turbine was successfully installed at China's first national-level offshore pilot wind farm, the Shanghai East Sea Bridge 100MW offshore wind farm.

Currently, Sinovel is undergoing R&D procedures on a 5MW offshore wind turbine system. The company has already established an optimized equality management system. It has passed the ISO9001 quality management accreditation and the ISO14001 environment management accreditation. Its products have received the necessary certification from the GL Group and the China General Certification Center.

Apart from offering top-tier technology, Sinovel Wind has set up an effective client service protocol, with veteran engineers active in many wind farms across China.

In the early stage of any given project, they offer detailed wind resource assessment and micro-siting evaluation. They also provide optimized technological training and support to clients.

In the construction stage of project, they give technical guidelines and supports to clients in the run-up to installation. They are also in charge of the commissioning test, quality examination and maintenance of the wind turbine on site.

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The company has a spare parts center and provides a 24-hour-a-day wind turbine monitoring system and a round-the-clock rapid response service.

In line with the national strategy of establishing key wind turbine bases in Jiangsu and Gansu provinces and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Sinovel Wind has developed the country's largest and most sophisticated supplementary industrial management chain.

It has optimized a development plan for its R&D and management centers in Beijing, and its production bases in Dalian (Liaoning province), Jiangsu and Gansu provinces and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

It has also successfully initiated the second, third, fourth and fifth phases of some nationally concessional wind power projects, as well as several national-level projects.

These have included the Huaneng Fuxin wind power project, the Hebei Zhangbei 1 million KW wind power project, the nation's first offshore wind farm, part of the Shanghai East Sea Bridge wind farm project, and has provided products for the Gansu 10 million-KW-level turbine project.

The company has also developed a diversified market strategy, building its sales network in a number of key countries and regions throughout the world's wind power markets. It has also established business contacts with key companies active in investing in the wind power sector on a global basis. Its overseas sales revenue is expected to provide between 30-40 percent of the company's total income in future.

Historical breakthrough

As part of the national drive to develop key commercial industrial equipment within China, Sinovel Wind is committed to scientific innovation and the production of clean energy.

It has fully embraced technological development, the pursuit of independent IPR, scaled-up production and internationalized strategies. It has also taken the lead, domestically, in terms of developing large-sized wind turbines with independent IPR and establishing optimized industrial chains.

Within a relatively short period of time, Sinovel has made a number of hugely significant breakthroughs and established itself as the number one company for wind turbine technology within China and the number seven in global terms.

In future developments, the company is committed to pursuing innovation, providing leading-edge products and excellent services, while building itself into the most globally competitive business in the wind power sector.