FIRST BATCH OF UNITS IN GUAZHOU WINDFARM STARTS SPINNING . . .
The first batch of 750-kW wind power units at the Guazhou 100-MW Windfarm were synchronized to the grid and put into operation successfully in Northwest China’s Gansu Province after one year of construction.

The Guazhou 100-MW Windfarm was built by China Power International Development, Limited (China Power), a subsidiary of China Power Investment Corporation (Beijing, China), and Gansu Huineng New Energy Technology Development Company, Limited (Gansu, China). The total investment for the project is $103 million.

The project plans to install 134 wind power units each, with a single capacity of 750-kW, for a total installation capacity of 100.5-MW, together with one 110-kV/100-MW electrical substation. All power produced from the windfarm will be transmitted out via the Guazhou 330-kV substation.

On August 16, 2005, China Power Investment Corporation won the bid for the construction of the Phase I 100-MW Wind Power Project of Guazhou Windfarm organized by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Construction of the project officially started in June 2006.

So far, commissioning of the 110-kV substation has been complete and put into official operation. A total of 62 units have been erected, and all 134 units are expected to be put into operation by the end of October. Upon completion, the annual power output of the Phase I project is expected to be 325.9 million kWh.

Based on the coal consumption of an equivalent thermal power plant, the project could save about 80,000 metric tons a year of standard coal, and reduce the discharge of flue dust over 1,000 metric tons every year.

Guazhou is a county rich in wind resources with an annual average wind speed of 3.7-m/s. According to the “Power Development Plan of Gansu Province for the Eleventh Five-Year” (2006-2010), there are seven windfarms ready to be developed over the next ten years, which is over one-third of the total of Gansu Province both in construction scale and quantity. The local government plans to build Guazhou into a 1,000-MW wind power base in China. (Source: Industrial Info Resources)