China Braced for Wind Turbine Slowdown

China braced for wind turbine slowdown

This article from the Financial Times claims that the turbine installation in China is decreasing during this year. In five years China passed from a situation in which there was not wind power to be the world’s largest installer of new turbines last year. China has more than 60 turbine makers, all newcomers to the market, and is expected that after this downturn it will remain just 10-12 major Chinese companies. There are different causes that lead to this situation: the first one is that turbine-making industry globally is facing overcapacity and turbulent demand. The second cause is that wind farm developers are facing difficulties in find a financing for the tightening credit conditions. Finally there is the fact that the government is making new regulations to increase turbines quality including the first turbine certification program.

It is important to see in depth how the Chinese wind industry has grown, the numbers and the determinants that have lead to the actual situation. In the late 1990s China’s commercial wind power emerged with few companies as Goldwind. In 2003 a concession policy promoted domestic projects through competitive bidding and marked a turning point in wind industry and technology development in China. By 2007, four major domestic firms operated in China and there were also many other firms developing prototypes. In 2009 three Chinese firm ranked among the top 10 global wind power manufacturers: Sinovel, Goldwind and Dongfang. The year 2010 signs the emergence of China as the dominant global manufacturer of wind turbines.

After a period of robust growth, already in 2009 there has been a significant deceleration in the Chinese wind energy industry. In 2010 the industry recovered strongly and even with anticipated gradual deceleration of annual growth, it is expected to continue its expansion towards 2015. The Chinese wind energy industry had total revenues of $1 billion...