Is wind power running out of puff? (2)

By the end of 2011, China's total installed wind power capacity was 62.36 gigawatts, the largest in the world. However, just 47.84 gW, or 76.7 percent, was connected to the grid, according to China Wind Power Outlook 2012, a report issued by the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association, Greenpeace and the Global Wind Energy Council.

"In the past few years, wind farm development has been too rapid and grid construction has not been able to keep up. The huge gap put a lot of pressure on the grid," said Ma Jinru, vice-president and secretary of the board at Goldwind Group, one of China's biggest manufacturers of wind power equipment.

The report also showed that more than 10 billion kWh of wind-generated power had been curtailed across China. The number of wind turbine working hours declined sharply in 2011. Full-load hours for the year came to 1,903 hours, a decline of 144 hours, or 7 percent, from the 2,047 hours recorded in 2010. Wind farm operators suffered combined losses of more than 5 billion yuan as a result of the curtailment, which cut profits in the sector by half.

China Ming Yang Wind Power Group, one of the world's top 10 wind turbine manufacturers by sales, reported a gross profit of 137.2 million yuan in the third quarter of 2012, a fall of 55.1 percent from 305.6 million yuan for the corresponding period in 2011, blaming weak demand for wind turbine generators in China. Sinovel Wind Group Co, another leading Chinese manufacturer in large-scale onshore, offshore and inter-tidal wind turbines, reported a net loss of 280.3 million yuan during the same period.