China sees slower growth of wind power industry

Recently released statistics show that the growth of China's wind power industry slowed last year.

The nation had 17.6 gigawatts worth of newly installed wind turbine capacity last year, the China Renewable Energy Industry Association said on March 23. This was down nearly 7 percent on the figure for 2010.

The total accumulated capacity as of 2011 was 62.3 gigawatts.

Inner Mongolia had the most newly installed capacity in 2011 with 3.7 gigawatts. Other regions with newly installed capacity exceeding one gigawatt were Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Heilongjiang and Ningxia.

Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. a turbine manufacturer in Xinjiang, had 20.4 percent of the market share, followed by Sinovel Wind Group Co. and Guodian United Power Technology Co.

Goldwind's 2011 financial report said it had operating revenue of 12.8 billion yuan, down 27 percent from a year before. The net profit of its shareholders fell 73.5 percent to 600 million yuan.

The growth of China's wind power industry has declined, and increased competition has led to the prices for turbine units falling.

Although the sales of turbines and parts contributed 96 percent, or 12.3 billion yuan, of Goldwind's operating income, the gross profit rate was just 15.5 percent. Goldwind had gross profit rate of 61 percent for some wind projects it operated.

Ma Jinru, a senior executive of Goldwind, said the company had made progress in terms of international business, a sector that had sales revenue of 1.2 billion yuan. "Our performances in the markets of the United States and emerging economies were better than expected."

Global Wind Energy Council, an international forum for the sector, predicted that in 2015, the size of the global wind power market would be 449 gigawatts. Annual growth of installed capacity of turbines to that year would be 18 percent. Asia, North America and the Europe will be the markets with the fastest growth, and China would be the main driving force.