context: World Bank data estimates global offshore wind resources at 71 TW, yet its potential remains largely untapped. Recent policy updates encouraging local consumption of renewable energy could provide an opportunity for offshore wind to supply power to energy-hungry eastern provinces. Industry estimates project that the PRC will add 150GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, supplying some 10 percent of power consumption along the coast.
Deep-sea offshore development should become the main area for wind power expansion in the next five years, argues Zhang Chuanwei 张传卫 Mingyang Smart Energy Products chair at the Beijing International Wind Energy Conference on 21 October.
At present, there are no problems with power absorption, no shortage of resources and the cost per kilowatt-hour is predictable, says Zhang. Large-scale offshore wind power development can also drive breakthroughs in equipment manufacturing and tech.
Assuming the PRC adds 120 GW of new wind power capacity annually, deep-sea wind power installations could exceed 60 GW per year starting in 2027. Mingyang Smart aims to reduce the levelized cost of electricity for offshore wind power in Guangdong to below CY0.25/kWh and to keep it under CY0.3/kWh in the Bohai Rim area.
Conventional floating wind power projects target waters 70m or more deep, where the PRC has relatively limited suitable areas, however seas off Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Hainan all have potential.
After more than 20 years of development, large-scale new wind power projects must focus on deep sea areas first, desert areas second and low wind-speed areas in central and eastern China third. Each of these three areas face unique challenges
- deep-sea wind projects are expensive to build and exposed to typhoons, which can damage turbines and complicate maintenance
- 'Shagehuang' desert bases face local consumption deficits and require extensive power transmission infrastructure
- low wind-speed regions have the best consumption conditions but lower generation output
The wind power industry must keep innovating to make previously undeveloped areas viable. Regarding the widely discussed issue of whether marketisation will curb future renewables development, complete market participation for renewables should not be viewed as price reduction. Its essence is marketisation, which demands innovations, including new applications and technological processes.