China's offshore wind power enters a critical period of development

The Shanghai International Offshore Wind Power and Wind Power Industry Chain Conference concluded in Shanghai on the 1st issued an appeal: From the perspective of improving energy structure, ensuring energy security, and responding to climate change, China needs to vigorously develop wind power.

Li Junfeng, deputy director of the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out that China’s offshore wind power has entered a critical period of development and it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between the environment, policies, and institutional mechanisms to solve practical problems and achieve breakthroughs.

According to the latest statistics from the China Wind Energy Association, by the end of 2011, China had installed nearly 45,900 wind turbines, with an installed capacity of approximately 62.36 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world.

Li Junfeng stated that compared with onshore wind power, offshore wind power is close to conventional power load centers, which facilitates power grid consumption and eliminates the troubles of long-distance transmission, and is therefore widely supported by countries. China has also listed new energy sources such as wind power as a strategic emerging energy source and will focus on development.

The "Twelfth Five-Year Plan for Wind Power Technology Development" recently released by the Ministry of Science and Technology clearly stated that during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, China will continue to develop large-scale offshore wind power. For this reason, during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, while China is building six million-kilowatt wind power bases on land, it will also build two 20-million-kilowatt offshore and coastal wind power bases.

In July last year, the National Energy Administration and the State Oceanic Administration jointly formulated the "Implementation Rules for the Interim Measures for the Administration of the Development and Construction of Offshore Wind Power" to further regulate the development of offshore wind power.

According to data from the Global Wind Energy Council, as of 2011, the newly installed offshore wind farms in the world are mainly concentrated in China and Europe. The total installed capacity of offshore wind power in the world reaches 3,980 MW, of which the total installed capacity of offshore wind power in China is 209.9 MW. In 2011, the global installed capacity of offshore wind power was 470 MW, of which China added 107.9 MW, accounting for 22.96% of the total.

At present, offshore wind projects in China that have been completed and put into operation include the Shanghai Donghai Bridge 102 MW offshore wind project and the Guodian Longyuan Jiangsu Rudong Offshore (intertidal zone) wind farm.

During the ".com Energy Conservation Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, China's intertidal zone and offshore wind power will enter a phase of accelerated development and large-scale development. According to the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” renewable energy plan, in 2015, China will build 5 million kilowatts of offshore wind power, form a complete set of offshore wind power technologies and establish a complete industrial chain. After 2015, China's offshore wind power will enter the stage of large-scale development and reach the international advanced technology level. In 2020, offshore wind power in China will reach 30 million kilowatts.

Coastal provinces and cities have shown great enthusiasm for the development of offshore wind power. The total number of offshore wind projects listed in the planning of the Chinese coastal areas from north to south is about 24, with a total installed capacity of more than 25 million kilowatts.

Compared with the rising enthusiasm of coastal provinces and cities, the development of offshore wind power in China appears to be somewhat slow.

According to Li Junfeng, none of the four projects that won the bid for the first round of offshore wind power concession bidding project announced in October 2010 has yet to start. From a practical point of view, this is no longer the case.

"The location has changed and the water depth has changed. The fan model must also change," Li Junfeng said.

Shanghai Electric Wind Power Equipment. According to Liu Qi, deputy general manager of Com Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., the current problem is that all government departments lack overall plans for offshore wind power development.

Shanghai Electric and Shandong Luneng won the bid for Dongtai’s 200 MW intertidal zone project, but later the marine division called the block a nature reserve.

Liu Qi said: "The address of the first four projects of the year has changed. Now we must start a comprehensive lack of foundation, lack of coordination and cooperation of the relevant national authorities, as well as legal and legal support."

Low bid price is another huge issue that confuses developers. At the beginning, all developers to obtain offshore wind power franchise development rights, making the bid price lower, the four projects won the bid on-grid price were an average of 0.7779 yuan / kWh, 0.7070 yuan / kWh, 0.6881 yuan / kWh and 0.6882 yuan / kW At the time, it is close to onshore wind power, but the investment cost of offshore wind power is actually nearly 2 times that of onshore wind power.

Industry insiders comment that the low price of offshore wind power is actually a rule-oriented issue.

Li Junfeng suggested that when formulating rules, the government must be scientific, serious, and operable.