wind energy china

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1540-7977/11/$26.002011 IEEE6 IEEEpower & energy magazine november/december 2011

Wind Energyin China

C

CHINA IS A LAND WITH ABUNDANT WIND RESOURCES.

According to the latest official release of the national wind energy resource

assessment results, 50-m-high wind energy resource potential amounts

to about 2,580 GW, of which 2,380 GW is onshore and 200 GW is off-shore in the 525-m range of water depth. The areas suitable for developing

large-scale wind power include Northeast, Northwest, and North China, as

well as coastal areas in the provinces of Jiangsu and Shandong, where wind

power potential accounts for about 80% of the wind energy resource poten-

tial of the whole country, as shown in Figure 1. (This article does not contain

the data and information of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,

Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan region; maps are for illus-

trative purposes only.)

Construction and Utilizationof Wind Power ProjectsChinas wind power has been experiencing rapid development since 2005. During 2005

2010, the cumulative installed capacity of wind power in China increased 35 times, adding

18.93 GW in 2010 (see Figure 2). By the end of 2010, Chinas cumulative installed capacity had

reached 44.73 GW, surpassing that of the United States and ranking first in the world.

Large and medium-sized projects with capacities of more than 10 MW have dominated wind power

plant construction in China. Especially since 2008, the government has begun to plan and construct a number of

1-GW wind power bases, and even some up to 10 GW. By the end of 2010, the number of wind power plants larger than

100 MW had reached 127, representing 64% of the existing installed capacity.

To date, China has the largest cumulative installed, grid-connected, offshore wind power capacity outside Europe. The

commission of the three 3-MW offshore wind turbines at the Shanghai Donghai Daqiao offshore wind power plant in Sep-

tember 2009 marked the start of Chinas megawatt-scale offshore wind power utilization. Meanwhile, the National Develop-

ment and Reform Commission (NDRC), Chinas top planner, launched the first round of concession projects for offshore

wind power plants in May 2010, with a total capacity of 1,000 MW. By the end of 2010, the total cumulative installed capac-

ity of offshore wind power in China had reached 142.5 MW.

In 2010, Chinas wind power generation was about 50.1 TWh, which accounted for 1.28% of net electricity consumption.

The wind power generation within the northeast power grid reached 17 TWh, or 6.0% of net electricity consumption; the

wind power generation within the eastern region of the Inner Mongolia power grid reached 5.9 TWh, or 21.1% of the net

electricity consumption. In 2010, the average full load hours of wind turbines amounted to 2,082.

Related Policies and Regulatory FrameworkThe Renewable Energy Law of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) was adopted at the 14th session of the Standing

Committee of the Tenth National Peoples Congress on 28 February 2005 and took effect on 1 January 2006. The law

Digital Objec t Identifier 10.1109/MPE .2011.942350Date of publi cation : 21 October 2011


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november/december 2011 IEEEpower & energy magazine 37

Status and Prospects

By Liping Jiang, Yongning Chi, Haiyan Qin,Zheyi Pei, Qionghui Li, Mingliang Liu, Jianhua Bai,Weisheng Wang, Shuanglei Feng, Weizheng Kong,

and Qiankun Wang

DIGITAL VISION

established the basic legal system for

Chinas renewable energy (RE) devel-

opment and formed a general policy

and regulatory framework for promoting

renewable energy development and utili-

zation. On the basis of the law, the National

Energy Administration (NEA), Ministry

of Finance (MoF), State Electricity Regula-

tory Commission (SERC), and the other relatedgovernment authorities successively issued a series of

specified policies and regulations on RE generation, cov-

ering the definitions and related regulatory measures with

respect to priority scheduling and priority purchasing as well

as cost sharing among electricity consumers nationwide.

Through efforts spanning several years, a series of poli-

cies and a regulatory framework to promote RE develop-

ment have been put in place in China. In order to keep up

with the rapid development of RE, the Amendment of the

Renewable Energy Law was adopted at the 12th session

of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Peoples

Congress on 26 December 2009. The amendment empha-

sized the responsibilities and obligations of central and

local governments regarding the surveying of resources

and development planning and provided detailed sup-

port for the integration of RE generators. The amend-

ment established a dedicated RE development fund, whose

sources include both financing from the central government

budget and revenue from a legally authorized levy on electric-

ity consumers nationwide (the RE electricity surcharge). To

date, some of the methods supporting the Renewable Energy Law

are still under development or revision.


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8 IEEEpower & energy magazine november/december 2011

Project Approval and ManagementAuthorized by the PRC State Council, NDRC is the price

administration of the country and consequently respon-

sible fordeciding on and approving RE-generated electric-

ity pricing. NEA has the responsibility for formulating and

issuing annual plans, as well as for medium- and long-term

wind power development planning and for approving newly

built wind power projects and power grid projects. SERC

is responsible for supervising the operations of wind power

plants and the power grid.

According to the Regulation on Management of RE Gen-

eration introduced by NDRC in 2006, wind power projects

with capacities of 50 MW and above should be approved by

NDRC, and those with capacities below 50 MW should be

approved by the local provincial authority reporting to NDRC.

Feed-In TariffsFeed-in tariff policy for RE power generation in China has

experienced several different periods. Before 2003, the

feed-in tariff was determined case by case along with each

individual wind power project, based on the power purchase

agreement signed between the wind power plant operator

and the grid enterprise, approved by the local government,

and reported to the National Price Bureau. During 2003

2007, a concession bidding pricing mechanism was intro-

duced. This was meant to be the main pricing mechanism

for wind power, along with a feed-in tariff equivalent to the

benchmarked local desulfurized coal-fired power feed-in

tariff plusa subsidy of no more than CNY 0.25 per kWh.

On 1 August 2009, NDRC issued the Notice on Price Pol-

icy Improvement for Onshore Wind Power, which instituted

a fixed-benchmark pricing system for onshore wind power

in place of the concession bidding pricing mechanism. This

new mechanism created four categories of feed-in tariff,based on the regional wind resource and difference

5071,2

67

1,2

88

2,5

55

3,3

11

5,8

66

6,1

54 12,0

20

13,8

03

18,9

28

44,7

33

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

MW

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

25,8

05

AddedInstalled CapacityAccumulativeInstalled Capacity

figure 2. Wind power capacity of China, 20052010.

100

100

100

100

200100

100

150

50

150

150150

150

150

200

200

150100

150 150

150

150

150

150

150

150

150

150100

100

100

100

200

50

50

50

50

150

100

100 100

200

200

200

200

200

200200

200

50

50

100

100

200 W/m2 or Above (High)

150200 W/m2

100150 W/m2

50100 W/m2

50 W/m2 or Below (Low)

Area ofNorthwest

China

Area

of

North

Chi

na

Area of

NortheastChina

Coastal Areas

figure 1. Schematic diagram of wind power resources in China.


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in geographical conditions. The

four benchmark feed-in tariffs

were set up correspondingly as

CNY0.51/kWh, CNY0.54/kWh,

CNY0.58/kWh, and CNY0.61/kWh

(see Table 1 and Figure 3). They

reflect the concept that the betterthe average wind conditions are, the

lower the tariff level should be.

Mechanism ofRE Electricity SurchargeAccording to the cost-sharing prin-

ciples determined by the Renew-

able Energy Law, the excess of the

renewable energy power generation

project feed-in tariff over the local

desulfur ized coalpower bench-

mark price and the excess of theoverall cost of the independent RE-

based power system project over the

Category I: 0.51 CNY/kWh

Category II: 0.54 CNY/kWh

Category III: 0.58 CNY/kWh

Category IV: 0.61 CNY/kWh

figure 3. Benchmark feed-in tariff zones for onshore wind power.

table 1. Benchmark feed-in tariffs for onshore wind power.

ResourceZone

Benchmark Feed-InTariff (CNY/kWh) Administrative Areas Included

Category I 0.51 Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region exceptChifeng, Tongliao, Xinganmeng, Hulunbeier;

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region:Urumqi, Yili, Karamay, Shihezi

Category II 0.54 Hebei Province: Zhangjiakou, Chengde;Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region:Chifeng, Tongliao, Xinganmeng, HulunbeierGansu Province: Zhangye, Jiayuguan, Jiuquan

Category III 0.58 Jilin Province: Baicheng, Songyuan;Heilongjiang Province:

Jixi, Shuangyashan, Qitaihe, Suihua, Yichun,Daxinganling region;Gansu Province exceptZhangye, Jiayuguan, Jiuquan;Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region exceptUrumqi, Yili, Changji, Karamay, Shihezi;Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Category IV 0.61 Other parts of China not mentioned above


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local provincial average retail tariff, as well as a calculated

cost for RE power integration, should be subsidized by an RE

electricity surcharge. This surcharge is currently imposed on

electricity customers nationwide and applies to about 85% of

the total electricity consumption. NDRC and SERCjointly

release a report on the RE Electricity Surcharge Levy and

Subsidy Arrangement to the public periodically every year,

since 2006.The RE electricity surcharge was raised from CNY 0.1

cent/kWh in 2006 to CNY 0.4 cent/kWh in 2009. The total

RE electricity surcharge in 2009 was about CNY12 billion,

but this amount covered only about 70% of the needed subsi-

dies for RE generation. It appears that the RE electricity sur-

charge deficit will be enlarged with the rapid development of

RE in the coming years.

Concession Bidding of Wind Power ProjectsIn order to promote development of wind power and determine

the real costs of wind power generation, the Chinese govern-

ment decided to implement a concession bidding mechanism

for some large-scale wind power projects in 2003. From 2003

to 2007, five concession biddings of onshore wind power were

conducted, which covered 15 projects and 2.6 GW. In 2010,

the concession bidding process for four offshore wind power

projects located in the coastal area of Jiangsu, totaling 1 GW,

was completed. Table 2 summarizes these developments.

Technical Standards for Wind Power GridConnection, Operation, and ManagementA lack of technical standards and the absence of regula-

tions for wind power integration were recognized as two of

the main issues encumbering Chinas wind power develop-ment, especially with the rapid growth of wind power within

the past ten years. In December 2010, NEA finally issued

a regulation, Tentative Management Procedures for Grid-

Connection Testing of Wind Turbines, requiring that, from

1 January 2011, wind turbines within newly approved wind

power plants must pass grid-connection testing and comply

with the relevant technical requirements before they can

be permitted to connect to the grid and begin operation. In

March 2011, NEA issued the Management Procedures on

Wind Power Forecasting and Coordinated Operation with

the Power System (a draft guide) to identify the explicit

responsibilities of different stakeholders and specify system

requirements and supervision. Certain other, related techni-

cal standards and regulations are still under discussion.

Development of WindTurbine Industry and Technology

Status of the Wind Turbine IndustryThanks to the great support of policy incentives and huge

market demand during the past ten years, the wind turbine

manufacturing industry has developed rapidly in China,

with a full industry supply chain being formed. By the end

of 2010, 88% of the domestic market was occupied by Chi-

nese wind turbine manufacturers, compared with 30% in

2005. Wind turbines, blades, gearboxes, and other com-

ponents have been exported to countries in North Amer-

ica, Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia. DEC, Goldwind,

Sinovel, and United Power were listed among the top ten

global turbine suppliers in 2010, and three more Chinese

domestic manufacturers were included in the top 15 (see

Figure 4).

In terms of the cumulative installed capacity in China,

there were 16 wind turbine manufacturers with a market

share of more than 1% at the end of 2010. Among them,five foreign manufacturers shared 17.5% of the market, with

table 2. Concession bidding of wind power projects in China.

Type Bidding Time Projects Capacity (MW) Bidding Prices Range (CNY/kWh)

Onshore September 2003 2 200 0.43650.5013

Onshore September 2004 3 300 0.38200.5190

Onshore August 2005 3 450 0.46160.6000

Onshore August 2006 3 700 0.40560.5006Onshore November 2007 4 950 0.46800.5510

Offshore September 2010 4 1,000 0.62350.7370

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

Vestas

Sinovel

GE

GoldWind

Enercon

Gamesa

DEC

Sulon

Siemens

UnitedPower

MingYang

ShanghaiElectric

Nordex

XEMC

Repower

figure 4. The top 15 global wind turbine manufactur-

ers and their shares of the global market (source: ChineseWind Energy Association).


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7,285 MW of capacity, and 11 Chinese domestic manufactur-

ers shared 75.7% of the market, with 33,962 MW of capacity.

Of these 16, Sinovel, Gold Wind, DEC, Vestas, and United

Power are the top five in order of market share.

Status of Wind Power Technology

The unit size of wind turbines has been increasing in recentyears. Before 2005, wind turbines with unit capacities of

250 kW, 600 kW, and 850 kW dominated the Chinese mar-

ket. Imported MW-level wind turbines were introduced

into the Chinese market during the first and second con-

cession bidding. About 51% of the annual newly installed

market was held by MW-level wind turbines in 2007, with

an average rated capacity of 1,048.9 kW, which increased

to 1,466.8 kW in 2010 when the MW-level wind turbine

became a mainstream product. Figure 5 shows the growth

of wind turbine unit capacity from 2000 to 2010. More

recently, multi-MW wind turbine production and applica-

tion in China has made considerable progress. The 3-MWwind turbine has been put into batch production and

installed successfully; furthermore, a prototype 5-MW

wind turbine has been produced.

The application of both gearbox drive and direct-drive

technology is popular. As in the global market, the dou-

bly fed induction generator (DFIG) with multistage gear-

box drive train has become a mainstream technology, with

mature development and full utilization in China. During

the past five yearsfrom 2006 to 2010high-speed gear-

box drive technology took a 70% market share in China;

meanwhile, direct-drive technology has also been develop-

ing steadily, with its market share growing from 0.1% in

2006 to 21.5% in 2010.

Offshore wind technology has also made great prog-

ress in China. The 3-MW wind turbine manufactured by

Sinovel and installed in the Shanghai Donghai Bridge off-

shore wind project in March 2009 was a milestone demon-

strating Chinas success in MW-scale offshore wind turbine

research and manufacture.

Grid Code andGrid-Connection ProceduresThe first Chinese grid code presenting technical require-

ments and specifying procedures for wind power integra-

tionGB/Z 19963-2005, Technical Rule for Connecting

Wind Power Plant with Power Grid, drafted by the China

Electric Power Research Institute (CEPRI) and managed

by the China Electricity Council (CEC)was issued on 12

December 2005 by the General Administration of Quality

Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and the

Standardization Administration of China (SAC).

At the beginning of the grid code formulation procedure,

the technical requirements for grid-connected plants were

moderate in some aspects, given the lower wind penetration

actually achieved and the technological limitations of thevarious wind turbine manufacturers.

With the rapid growth of Chinese installed capacity

which has approximately doubled annually during the pastfive yearsthe impact of wind power became a prominent

issue in power system operation and security in some areas.

In order to ensure the stable and reliable operation of wind

power plants, certain new technical requirements were

added to the revised grid code, which was drafted mainly by

CEPRI, China LongYuan Power Group Corporation, and the

Electric Power Research Institute of Southern Power Grid,

in collaboration with China Power Engineering Consulting

(Group) Corporation.

Grid Code Requirementsfor Wind Power PlantsFigure 6 shows the terminology and definitions used in

the grid code for wind power plants, points of connection

(POCs), active power, and reactive power, as well as for the

transmission lines of wind power plants.

The following requirements were included in the revised

grid code:

Active power control: A wind power plant should have

the ability to control active power according to orders

issued by the dispatching center of the power system.

In order to fulfill this control function, a wind power

plant active power control system must be installed.

Reactive power capacity and voltage control: For a

single wind power plant directly connected to the pub-

lic network, the capacitive reactive power compensa-

tion should cover not only the reactive power loss of

the wind power plant collector system and the step-up

transformers but also half of the reactive power loss of

the transmission line in the case of heavy loading. In

the case of light loading, the inductive reactive power

compensation should cover half of the capacitive charg-

ing reactive power of the transmission line. For large

wind power clusters, the capacitive reactive power de-

vices should compensate all the reactive power loss ofthe transmission line in the case of heavy loading; in the

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

695

.2

618

.3

608.4

75

0.4

7

90.2

852

921.7

1,0

48.9

1,2

13.5

1,3

62.7

1,4

66.8

kW

figure 5. Average rated capacity of newly installed windturbines in China, 20002010.


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case of light loading, the inductive reactive power de-vices should compensate all the charging capacitive re-

active power of the transmission line. The wind power

plant should regulate the voltage of the POC so that it

remains within 97107% of nominal voltage when the

system voltage is within the normal operating range.

Low-voltage ride-through (LVRT): The requirements

of wind power plant low-voltage ride-through are

shown in Figure 7.

If the voltage at the POC of the wind power plant is higher

than the voltage profile, drops to 20% of the nominal volt-

age with the duration for 625 ms and recovers to 90% of the

nominal voltage within two seconds, which arose from the

grid fault and is shown in Figure 7, all wind turbines within

the wind power plant shall remain connected to the system

without tripping.

The active power output of the connected wind turbines

must be continuously restored to the original value after

fault clearance and with a gradient of at least 10% of the

rated power per second.

Wind power plants located in 1-GW and larger wind

power clusters should be designed to support reactive power

dynamically during a balanced

system fault. The dynamic reac-

tive current injected into the power

system from a wind power plant

should be equal to 1.5 (0.9

UT) IN, where 0.2 #UT# 0.9

and whereIN is the rated current inper unit of wind power plant and

UT is the voltage in per unit at the

POC of the wind power plant.

Grid-Connection Testing Contents of testing: Figure 8

shows the main areas of wind

power plant and wind turbine

testing; these include wind

turbine type testing, wind

turbine grid-connection

testing, and wind power plant grid-connection test-ing. Grid-connection testing of wind power plants

should comply with State Grid Corporation of China

(SGCC) Enterprise Standard Q/GDW 392-2009,

Technical Rule for Connecting Wind Power Plants

with the Power Grid, which presents requirements for

wind power plants regarding power quality, active and

reactive power control capability, LVRT, and so on.

LVRT testing: International experience has shown

that wind power plant LVRT capability relies greatly

on the LVRT capability of individual wind turbines.

CEPRI has made substantial progress in the LVRT

testing of wind turbines, developing (in cooperation

with FGH Germany) the first mobile wind turbine

LVRT test facility in China.

Grid-Connection Procedures,Including LVRT VerificationAccording to Q/GDW 392-2009, the entire wind power plant

should have LVRT capability and other controllability. In

many countries, modeling and simulation are used for the

verification of wind power plant LVRT capability. Based on

the LVRT testing results, modeling of the wind turbine can be

carried out and verified. Based on the verified wind turbine

model, the modeling of the whole wind power plant can then

be established, and the LVRT capability of the wind power

plant can be verified through power system simulation.

Main Issues of Wind Power Integration

Flexibility of Power System OperationsFrom the power system perspective, the big barrier in China

to accommodation of large-scale wind power integration is

poor system operational flexibility, since the major form of

generation in China is the coal-fired power plant and the flex-

ibility of hydropower in China is limited (this is due to the highproportion of run-of-river power plants whose responsibilities

Voltage Dip Caused by Grid Fault

Wind TurbineMust Not

Trip

1.21.1

10.90.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

01 0 0.625

Time (s)

Voltageat

PointofConnection(p

u.)

1 2 3 4

Wind Turbine May Trip

figure 7. Wind power plants: LVRT capabilityrequirement.

Transmission Line ofWind Power Plant

Active Power

WindTurbine

Collection System

Step-UpTransformer

Reactive Power

Wind PowerPlant

High-Voltage Bus(Point of Connection)

P Q

. . .

. . . . . . . . . .

figure 6. Wind power terminology and definitions in the grid code.


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include flood control, agricultural

irrigation, shipping, and so on).

By the end of 2010, total cumula-

tive installed generation capacity

in China was 966 GW, of which

the installed capacity of coal-fired

plants accounted for 66.9% butnatural gasfired and oil-fired gen-

eration accounted for only 3.6%.

Hydropower (including pumped

storage at 15.3 GW or 1.5%)

accounted for 22.4% (see Figure 9).

The situation in north, north-

eastern, and northwestern China,

where the abundant wind resources

are located, has been even worse

during the winter. Winter is a sea-

son of heavy heat demand, and

the power generation output ofthe coal-fired combined heat and

power (CHP) plants is determined

by heating demand. Therefore, the

systems ability to accommodate

large-scale wind power is dra-

matically reduced in winter. Take

northeastern China as an exam-

ple: it becomes more difficult to

accommodate a high wind penetration because of the lower

regulation capability of coal-fired plants in winter and spring,

when the wind blows strongest.

The relatively low capacity of the tie lines in the regional

power grids results in interregional power transmission

congestion and a shortfall of mutual power-balancing sup-

port capability, thus reducing the capability of the whole

power system to accommodate wind power. Table 3 shows

the load, wind power capacity, and tie-line capacity of north-

eastern and northwestern China, where there is high wind

penetration but low load. In some

areas of northeastern China (e.g.,

the eastern region of Inner Mon-

golia Autonomous Region, Jilin

Province, and Liaoning Province)

and northwestern China (e.g.,

Gansu province and Xinjiang

Uygur Autonomous Region), wind

power integration is confronting

significant challenges due to the

poor flexibility of the system, low

load, and limited tie-line capacity.

Transmission forLarge-Scale Wind PowerA higher-voltage transmission sys-

tem with larger power capabilityis being developed for improved

wind power integration and accommodation. As in Europe,

where it has been necessary to develop dedicated power corri-

dors and grid-connection projects to integrate large-scale off-

shore wind power plants, it is necessary for large-scale wind

power plants located in remote regions of northeastern and

northwestern China to connect to high-voltage transmission

lines in order to send energy out to load centers. For exam-

ple, the Ganhekou wind power project in Gansu Province

consists of several 200-MW wind power plants. Several

330-kV dedicated wind power substations, each of which

Wind Turbine Type Testing

Power Performance

Noise

Load

Power QualityPower Quality

LVRTLVRT

Active Power/ReactivePower Controllability

Active Power/Reactive

Power Controllability

Frequency/VoltageCompliance

AntiinterferenceCapability

Frequency/VoltageCompliance

Antiinterference

Capability

Wind TurbineGrid Connection Testing

Wind Power PlantGrid Connection Testing

figure 8. Contents of grid-connection testing of wind power plants and windturbines.

Other0.3

0.0%

Wind29.63.1%

Nuclear10.81.1%

Hydro216.122.4%

Thermal Power709.773%

Coal-Fired646.666.9%

Gas andOil-Fired

35.23.6%

Other ThermalPower27.92.9%

figure 9. Existing Chinese grid-connected generation capacity, in GW (source: CEC).


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collects the output of two or three wind power plants, are

connected to the main 750-kV system to deliver the large

quantity of wind power produced by wind farms located at

Ganhekou to the northwestern power grid.

According to SGCC statistics, by the end of 2010,

23,200 km of transmission line for wind power grid con-

nection had been built, of which 58.1% (13,450 km) is

rated at 220 kV and above. Figure 10 shows the propor-tion of these transmission lines rated at each of several

voltage levels.

Based on the evaluation of wind resource and site condi-

tions, NEA has put forward an ambitious plan and launched

the construction of eight 10-GW-level wind power bases (see

Figure 11). According to this plan, SGCC has carried out a

comprehensive integration study for each wind power base,

including an assessment of system accommodation capabil-

ity and wind power trading markets, as well as the power

delivery plan. The study concluded that:

Wind power in Shandong and Jiangsu provinces

should be accommodated within the local prov-

inces.

Wind power in Hebei Province should be sent out to

the northern, eastern, and central China power grids

in addition to the Beijing, Tianjin, and Tangshan

power grids.

Wind power in the other five bases should be sent

out to the northern, eastern, and central China grids

through interprovincial or interregional tie lines.

The eight large-scale wind power bases being estab-

lished will account for more than 70 GW of the 100 GW

of wind capacity called for by 2015 in the national wind

power development plan. Of this 70 GW, 42 GW will be

delivered through interprovincial or interregional tie lines.

Furthermore, when wind power installed capacity in China

reaches 160 GW, these eight bases will provide more than

75% of total wind capacity, and the wind power deliveredacross provinces or regions will reach 70 GW. With such

large-scale development planned for the future, additional

grid expansion and reinforcement are needed.

Role of Wind Power ForecastingAccurate wind power forecasting is the foundation for

increasing the precision of power dispatching and enhancing

the ability of the power system to accommodate wind power.

It is also helpful in order to decrease the needed reserve

capacity, improve the economy of the power system as a

whole, and thus reduce the cost of wind power development.

Government has provided significant policy, regulatory, and

financial support to facilitate innovation to increase the preci-

sion of wind power forecasting and promote better forecasting

technologies. The Ministry of Science and Technology led two

national science and technology support programs, Develop-

ment and Demonstration of Wind Power Forecasting Systems

and Research on Key Technologies for a Wind/PV/Storage/

Transmission Joint Demonstration Project. The NEA con-

ducted a study on the policy aspects of coordination and man-

agement of wind power forecasting and the power system. The

National Meteorological Administration developed a numeri-

cal weather-forecasting model with 1-km horizontal resolution

for the Jiuquan wind power base in Gansu Province. SGCC set

up the Operations Center for Numerical Weather Forecasting at

CEPRI for wind power forecasting, based on massively paral-

lel computing and using more than 4,000 cores. The center is

expected to eventually incorporate 10,000 cores.

So far, wind power forecasting service providers have

mastered the technology of short-term forecasting methods,

including physical, statistical, and hybrid methods, as well

as ultra-short-term forecasting methods based on real-time

observed wind and power data. In November 2008, the first

wind power forecasting system was put into operation at

the Jilin electric dispatching center. By the end of 2010, thewind power forecasting system covered more than 20 GW

110 kV and Below,9,703 km

750 kV, 1,694 km

500 kV, 2,786 km

330 kV, 475 km

220 kV, 8,494 km

,

50

220 k

figure 10. Wind power grid connection transmission linesinstalled through 2010, by voltage type.

table 3. Tie-line capacity in northeastern and northwestern China power grids in 2010.

RegionMax Load(MW)

Wind PowerInstalledCapacity (MW)

Capacity/Maximum Load Tie Lines

MaxTransmissionCapacity (MW)

Northeast 46,835 9,208 19.7% To north:Gaoling (back-to-back HVdc)

3,000

Northwest 50,503 4,272 8.5% To center:Lingbao (back-to-back HVdc)Debao (HVdc)

1,1103,000


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of wind capacity, or 60% of total

installed capacity. The use of

wind power forecasting provides

a strong support for increasing

the ability of the power system to

accommodate wind power.

Power System Dispatchand Control ProceduresChinas power dispatch system

follows an integrated dispatch-

ing and hierarchy management

mechanism, which means that

lower-level dispatching centers

are subordinate to higher-level

ones, while each level has its own

responsibilities. Wind power dis-

patching follows the same mecha-

nism, as shown in Table 4. Thereare five levels for dispatching cen-

ters in China, including a national

center (the National Electric Power

Dispatching and Communication

Center, or NEPDCC), six regional

centers, 31 provincial centers, 374 municipal-level centers,

and 2,057 county-level centers.

On the other hand, wind power and other renewables are

given first priority in dispatching under normal conditions of

system security and reliability, according to the Renewable

Energy Law and its related regulations. The main strategies

available to the dispatching centers are to adjust the annual,

monthly, daily, and even real-time dispatching schedules to

facilitate the flexibility of conventional power generators and

maximize tie-line transmission capacity among the regions.

Meanwhile, authorities such as NEA and SERC have

emphasized supporting regulations for building wind power

plant control and monitoring systems. Grid operators conse-

quently established the means to access wind power operation

information in parallel with the regular system information.

Essential operating information is sent to the system dispatch-

ing center so that the dispatcher is aware of real-time opera-

tional status. To date, all grid-connected wind power plants

have been included in the real-time monitoring system of the

local, provincial, regional, and national dispatching centers.

Moreover, NEPDCC is able to access real-time wind power

operation information from the regional and provincial grids.

It is clear that the integrated dispatching mechanism in

China plays an important role in terms of accommodating

table 4. Levels and responsibilities of dispatching centers in China.

Dispatching Center Dispatching ScopeResponsibilityfor Wind Power

National(NEPDCC) Ultra-high-voltage power grid;tie lines across regions;electric generators transmitting electricity across regions(large thermal or hydropower plants)

Dispatching the wind powerand transmitting electricityacross regions

Regional 500/330-kV power grid;all the tie lines across provinces;pumped-storage power station;some regulation and emergency power plants directly connected to500/330-kV power grid

Dispatching the wind powerand transmitting electricityacross provinces in theregion

Provincial 500/330-kV terminal substations and power plants, except for the onescontrolled by upper-level dispatching centers in the province;220-kV power grid

Dispatching the wind powerwithin the province

Municipal level 220-kV and smaller substations and local power plants, except for theones controlled by upper-level dispatching centers

Dispatching the wind powerat the city level

County level 110-kV and smaller substations and local power plants, except for theones controlled by upper-level dispatching centers Not dispatching the windpower

Hami

Northwest

Tibet

South

North,

Center,East of

China

Jiangsu

Shandong

Inner Mongolia EastInner Mongolia West

Jilin

Northeast

Hebei

Jiuquan

figure 11. Schematic diagram of eight wind power bases and their associatedpower flows.


11/11


large-scale wind power development along with rapid

growth and electrical balancing in the wider area network.

Outlook for ChinasWind Power DevelopmentWind power will continue its rapid development in the coming

decades, due to Chinas commitment to energy efficiency and

carbon dioxide emission reduction. During the 2010 United

Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen, the

Chinese government promised to devote major resources to

developing renewable and nuclear energy to ensure that by2020, consumption of nonfossil fuel power will account for

15% of the countrys total primary energy consumption and

the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will

be reduced by 4045% as compared with the emission level

of 2005. The Chinese government accordingly has decided

to dedicate a supplementary investment of CNY500 billion

to developing RE and nuclear power over the next ten years.

It appears that RE may assume even greater significance than

previously thought as a consequence of the nuclear disaster at

the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan.

Preliminary analysis indicates that the contribution rate

of wind power to the 15% goal is about 10%, which means

wind power capacity must reach at least 150 GW by 2020.

This in turn means that in the years 20102020, the growth

rate of wind power installed capacity will be kept at least at

14%, or 12 GW of annually added capacity. According to

Chinas 12th five-year plan, the generation of nonfossil fuel

power will account for 11.4% of the countrys total primary

energy consumption by 2015, instead of 8.2% as in 2005.

By 2015, there will be about 100 GW of wind power, which

could displace the equivalent of 430 million tons of coal and

reduce CO2 emissions by 1.2 billiontons annually, contribut-

ing 5% to achieving the emission reduction goal.

We believe that the experience and success of China in

large-scale wind power development will be a valuable con-

tribution to the development of global wind power utiliza-

tion. With the gradual construction of large-scale wind power

bases and the continued technical progress of domestic wind

turbine technology, Chinas manufacturing enterprises will

maintain the growth of quantity as well as quality. Apart from

supplying the domestic market, these companies will pro-

vide excellent equipment and service to the global market.

At the same time, the experience of solving the large number

of technology and management challenges faced by China,

including the lack of system flexibility, long-distance trans-mission, and large-scale wind power development, will estab-

lish a good base of operating knowledge that can provide use-

ful insights for other countries and regions in the world.

For Further ReadingAmendment of Renewable Energy Law of Peoples Republic

of China, State Council, Dec. 26, 2009.

CREIA, GWEC. (2010, Oct.). Greenpeace. China Wind

Power Outlook 2010 [Online]. Available: http://www.gwec.

net/fileadmin/documents/test2/wind%20report0919.pdf

D. Sheng, H. Dai, M. Chen, and Y. Chi, Discussion of

wind farm integration in China, in Proc. Transmission andDistribution Conf. Exhibition: Asia and Pacific, 2005, p. 1.

Chinese Wind Energy Association. (2011). Statistics of

Installed Wind Power Capacity in China 2010 [Online].

Available: http://www.cwea.org.cn/download/display_info.

asp?cid=2&sid=&id=39

IEA. (2011). Integration of RenewablesStatus and

Challenges in China [Online]. Available: http://www.iea.

org/papers/2011/Integration_of_Renewables.pdf

Y. Zhang, Z. Duan, and X. Liu, Comparison of grid

code requirements with wind turbine in China and Europe,

in Proc. 2010 Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering

Conference (APPEEC), pp. 14.

BiographiesLiping Jiang is with the State Grid Energy Research Insti-

tute, China.

Yongning Chi is with the China Electric Power Research

Institute, China.

Haiyan Qin is with the Chinese Wind Energy Associa-

tion, China.

Zheyi Pei is with the National Electric Power Dispatch-

ing and Communication Center, China.

Qionghui Li is with the State Grid Energy Research In-

stitute, China.

Mingliang Liu is with the Chinese Wind Energy Asso-

ciation, China.

Jianhua Bai is with the State Grid Energy Research In-

stitute, China.

Weisheng Wang is with the China Electric Power Re-

search Institute, China.

Shuanglei Feng is with the China Electric Power Re-

search Institute, China.

Weizheng Kong is with the State Grid Energy Research

Institute, China.

Qiankun Wang is with the State Grid Energy ResearchInstitute, China. p&e

Wind power will continue its rapid developmentin the coming decades, due to Chinas commitment toenergy efficiency and carbon dioxide emission reduction.

wind energy china

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