EXPLOSIVE growth in the demand for wind power has created a global waiting list for wind turbines, according to ClimateChangeCorp. It says Chinese turbine companies may be part of the solution as they ramp up production and get ready to export. And according to the Global Wind Energy Council (www.worldenergy.org), China will become the top wind turbine manufacturer by 2009.
To encourage domestic production, Bejing increased tariffs on imported wind turbines in May, 2008, while slashing import taxes on components.
The latter incentive, to help Chinese firms compete internationally for scarce parts, will put pressure on the industry in the rest of the world.
Even before the latest tariff increase, China was demanding that foreign companies manufacturing turbines on Chinese soil have at least 70% domestically produced components.
Goldwind, China’s largest wind turbine maker, raised $245million through an initial public offer (IPO) early this year to fund a huge expansion. LM Glassfiber of Denmark, which has a co-operation agreement with Goldwind, opened its second turbine blade factory in China in October last year.
ClimateChangeCorp says other major Chinese turbine makers – Sinovel, Windey, Dongfang, MingYang and HEC – are also expanding capacities and shopping for joint ventures and licensing agreements with global players.