CHINA WIND UPGRADING

53% of China's turbines upgraded following safety inspections
Wu Qi, 2 December 2011 (Windpower Monthly)

"China has upgraded 53% of its wind farms following a nationwide inspection to ensure safety operation, according to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC)...[S]ince August when it started a nationwide inspection of wind farms, [SERC] has examined 360 wind farms that are connected to the grid and 80 wind farms that are under construction. The inspection found around 1,700 hidden dangers.

"Since last year, wind turbines have frequently broken down in Chinese wind farms and the malfunctions continue to rise...SERC said that in the first eight months this year, there have been 193 accidents on wind turbines. They included 54 accidents that led to a 100-500MW being disconnected, and 12 accidents that each led to over 500MW of turbines being disconnected."

click to enlarge

"...[SERC said the] accidents exposed fluctuations in Chinese wind farm operation, discordance in wind farm planning and construction, difficulty in wind power grid-access and consumption, and low overall competitiveness of wind turbine manufacturing sector...

"[Only] 34 key wind farms with an overall capacity of 4.34GW, have a low voltage ride through (LVRT) capacity [that protects the grid]. This was a priority for SERC...Grid-access inspection, another priority, is making slow progress...because China has only one testing organisation with qualifications for the inspection..."