54746 The World Bank Asia Sustainable and Alternative Energy Program China Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power: Strategic Guidance China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Joint publication of the National Energy Administration of China and the World Bank Supported by the Australian Agency for International Development and ASTAE Copyright © 2010 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank Group 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433, USA All rights reserved First printing: March 2010 Manufactured in the United States of America. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Australian Agency for International Development. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this report are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, or its affiliated organizations, or to members of its board of executive directors or the countries they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequence of their use. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this volume do not imply on the part of the World Bank Group any judgment on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Contents Preface.........................................................................................................................................vii Foreword......................................................................................................................................ix Foreword......................................................................................................................................xi Acknowledgments.....................................................................................................................xiii Abbreviations and Acronyms...................................................................................................xiv Units of Measure.......................................................................................................................xiv Currency.....................................................................................................................................xiv Part A. Strategic Messages for Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power......................1 ......................................................................................................3 Summary of Main Messages. ...................................................................4 Overview of Key Findings and Recommendations. The Soundness of China’s Wind Power Development Strategy................................................................................4 .................................................................4 Principles for Developing a Scaled-Up and Efficient Portfolio of Projects. Desired Outcomes for China’s Wind Development Program....................................................................................8 Achievement of Desired Outcomes in Onshore WPBs, Intertidal, and Offshore......................................................8 Part B. Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China........................................................ 11 Section B–1: Summary and Key Recommendations...............................................................13 Recommendations for Offshore Wind. ....................................................................................................................14 ....................................................................................................................16 Recommendations for Intertidal Wind. Recommendations for Wind Power Bases..............................................................................................................16 Section B–2: Detailed Implementation Guidance....................................................................19 Policy Context in China............................................................................................................................................19 International Context...............................................................................................................................................20 Different Development Approaches........................................................................................................................20 Importance of Sustained Strong Political Commitment..........................................................................................21 The Way Forward....................................................................................................................................................22 iii iv Contents Section B–3: Roadmap for Offshore Wind Power Development............................................25 Background on International Experience with Offshore Wind.................................................................................25 Technical Parameters for Offshore Wind Farms......................................................................................................29 The Roadmap..........................................................................................................................................................32 Section B–4: Roadmap for Intertidal Development.................................................................49 Section B–5: Wind Power Base Roadmap................................................................................53 Annex B–1: Introductory Guide to the Installation of Offshore Wind Farms.........................67 ................................73 Annex B–2: Summary of Seabed Conditions and Foundation Options. Part C. Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China.......................................................................93 Section C–1: Technical Notes on Resource Assessment, Construction, and Grid Integration.............................................................................................................95 Session on Wind Resource Assessment and Site Screening: Overview of Workshop Presentations....................96 Session on Offshore Wind Farm Construction......................................................................................................100 Session on Grid Integration...................................................................................................................................103 ......................................................107 Section C–2: World Bank Presentation at the Workshop. Section C–3: Closing Address at the Offshore Wind and Coastal Large Wind Power Base Development Workshop. .....................................................................117 Boxes Box C–1 Wind Resource Assessment Efforts in China..................................................................................................97 Solutions for Grid Integration of Wind Farms.................................................................................................103 Box C–2  Figures A–1 Illustration of the Wake Effect............................................................................................................................5 B–1 Wind Power Base—Intertidal and Offshore Wind Farm Sites..........................................................................21 B–2 Schematic Representation of Comparative Cost of the Three Sources of Wind-Generated Electricity Delivered to the Load...........................................................................................21 B–3 World Offshore Wind Installed Capacity, June 2008. .......................................................................................26 B–4  Location of European Offshore Wind Projects, June 2008..............................................................................26 B–5 Cumulative Offshore Wind Capacity Since 1990. .............................................................................................27 B–6 Published Capital Costs for Offshore Wind Projects........................................................................................28 B–7  Breakdown of Offshore Wind Farm Capital Costs...........................................................................................29 B–8 Foundation Options..........................................................................................................................................31 B–9 Water Depth and Distance Offshore of European Offshore Wind Farms........................................................31 B–10 Summary of Timeline of Actions......................................................................................................................33 B–11 The Danish System..........................................................................................................................................36 B–12 The UK System................................................................................................................................................36 B–13 Roadmap for Preparatory Tasks........................................................................................................................37 B–14 Schematic Representation of Initial Demonstration Tasks...............................................................................42 B–15 Schematic Representation of Commercial Demonstration Tasks. ....................................................................43 B–16 Schematic Representation of Research and Development Tasks. ....................................................................45 B–17 Relationship between Intertidal Tasks..............................................................................................................50 Contents v B–18 Schematic Design of a Possible Intertidal Foundation.....................................................................................50 B–19 Summary of Timeline of Actions for the WPB. .................................................................................................54 B–20 Interaction of Some WPB Tasks and Their Expected Outputs..........................................................................55 B–21 Calculation of Wake Effects in Large Wind Farms............................................................................................59 B–22 Comparison of Rayleigh Distribution of Mean Wind Speeds in Europe and in Xiaocao Lake. ..........................60 B–23 An Example of Short-Term Forecasting. ...........................................................................................................61 B–24 Capacity-Weighted Capacity Factors for U.S. Wind Farms in 2007. .................................................................63 C1–1 Foundation Options........................................................................................................................................100 Annex B Figures B1.1  Siemens 3.6 MW Wind Turbine at Burbo Bank................................................................................................67 B1.2 Gunfleet Sands, United Kingdom. ....................................................................................................................67 B1.3 Tripod Support Structure..................................................................................................................................68 B1.4 Gravity Base Foundation..................................................................................................................................68 B1.5 Jack-Up Crane-Barge: Sea Jack........................................................................................................................69 B1.6  Specialist Wind Farm Installation Vessel: The Resolution.................................................................................69 B1.7  Specialist Installation Vessel: The Svanen........................................................................................................69 B1.8  Transportation Barge Towed by a Tug at Gunfleet Sands..................................................................................69 B1.9 Monopile installation........................................................................................................................................70 B1.10 Piling Hammer (left) and Anvil/Adaptor Piece (right). ........................................................................................70 B1.11 Reverse Circular Drill........................................................................................................................................70 B1.12 Heavy Lifting Crane Handling Gravity Base Structure......................................................................................71 B1.13 Installation of Wind Turbine at Burbo Bank, United Kingdom...........................................................................71 B1.14 Installation of Wind Turbine at Burbo Bank.......................................................................................................71 B1.15 Cable Laying.....................................................................................................................................................72 B1.16 Substation at Barrow Offshore Wind Farm......................................................................................................72 Tables B–1 Relative Size of International Markets..............................................................................................................20 B–2 Offshore Foundation Choices. ..........................................................................................................................30 B–3 R&D Actions for Various Areas.........................................................................................................................47 B–4 Annual Full-Load Hours of Some Wind Farms. .................................................................................................63 B–5 Capacity-Weighted Capacity Factors Achieved by U.S. Wind Farms by Year....................................................64 Preface This publication is the result of a joint effort of the National Energy Administration of the People’s Republic of China and the World Bank. The objective of this effort, implemented with support from AusAID and ASTAE, was to gather lessons learned from international experience in large-scale onshore and offshore wind power development, with a view to informing China’s strategy going forward. This effort resulted in two publications: • The first publication, Regulatory Review of Offshore Wind in Five European Countries, provides a detailed descrip- tion and evaluation of the regulatory approaches that various countries in Europe have taken to develop offshore wind energy. • The second publication, Strategic Guidance, defines a roadmap for the promotion of offshore and large-scale onshore wind developments in China, and summarizes the messages emerging from a high-level workshop held in Beijing. Both publications rely on investigations undertaken by Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited for the World Bank. The current publication is the second of the two. Regulatory Review of Offshore Wind in Five European Countries, which is a companion to this one, was published separately, under the ASTAE Technical Report Series. This publication comprises three main parts: • Part A contains the key messages emerging from the research and analytical work undertaken by Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited, the team of Chinese experts led by the National Energy Administration, and staff and con- sultants of the World Bank. • Part B comprises the Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited study, “Implementation Guidance for Offshore and ” and its annexes. Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China, • Part C focuses on the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China, which was held in Beijing in January 2009, and it includes technical notes on three main issues discussed during the workshop, remarks by senior officials from the Government of China, and the presentation by the World Bank during the event. vii Foreword This foreword is based on Mr. Zhang’s remarks at the January 2009 Workshop on Offshore Wind and Coastal Wind Base Development (translated from Chinese). In view of the escalating global problems associated with comparison with onshore wind power construction, how- the environment, energy, and natural resources, espe- ever, offshore construction is faced with larger techno- cially the increasing signs of global climate change, wind logical difficulties and new challenges. power is receiving more and more high-level attention on a global scale, and it has reached a rapid rate of develop- To be able to successfully manage offshore construction, ment as a result of the combined efforts of various coun- the following must occur: tries. The world’s installed capacity of wind power has already surpassed 100 GW, and wind power has become Offshore wind power planning must first be empha- an essential part of the world’s energy structure. sized. It is necessary to maintain development between wind power and other uses of the coastline and ocean In order to promote the development of renewable areas, such as ports, navigation, and ocean cultivation. energy, the Chinese government enacted the Renew- Moreover, wind power should be planned scientifically, able Energy Law in 2005, which defines the legal frame- positioned appropriately, and constructed in an orderly work for renewable energy development and strongly manner. promotes China’s renewable energy development, espe- cially in the area of wind power. By the end of 2008, Chi- Research and development (R&D) must be reinforced in na’s wind power installed capacity had exceeded 10 GW, offshore wind power technology, so as to further improve and great progress can now be seen in its manufacturing the reliability of the wind turbines. Furthermore, an off- capability. To speed up the pace of wind power develop- shore wind power engineering construction program ment, considering the characteristics of wind resources must be formulated, which should take the shape of an and power demand, we put forward the strategic idea offshore wind power engineering technology system. of “building large bases and integrating them into super grids,” and we are now in the process of planning the An appropriate mechanism for offshore wind develop- construction of a certain number of 10 GW wind bases. ment should be explored in order to accumulate offshore wind power development experience. Research and for- Until now, China’s main wind construction projects have mulation of administration policies and regulations for been located onshore, whereas the offshore projects are offshore wind farm development must also be made. still at the preparation and exploration stage. Generally speaking, offshore wind energy is characterized by higher In view of the effort made in recent years, China has made wind speeds, especially since smaller land space incurs great progress and has a promising future in the areas of less environmental impact. Thus, offshore projects hold wind power. Offshore wind power is the most promising enormous potential for the future. The European Union area of wind power development in China. In the opening has already made great efforts to develop offshore wind up of this new frontier, China’s wind power industry will power and considers it the main priority in the area of develop in a more formidable manner, and will make an wind energy. China has a very long coastline and vast important contribution to promoting the development of areas of ocean at its disposal, which provide excellent energy and science in China, as well as safeguarding the conditions for offshore wind development. ecological environment and sustainable development for the economy and the country as a whole. The eastern coastal lands are economically highly devel- oped, yet they suffer a shortage of fossil fuels. Thus, off- shore wind power is an important local natural resource and, as such, developing offshore wind for power sup- Zhang Guobao ply and economic growth in these areas is essential. In Administrator of the National Energy Administration ix Foreword In recent years, China’s achievements in wind power Facility (GEF) for renewable energy policy development development have exceeded expectations and planning and investment, comprising three phases. The first targets. The country’s target for wind power develop- phase of CRESP consists of a US$40 million GEF grant ment for 2010, set in the 11th Five-Year Plan at 5 GW, for technical assistance and capacity building support as was already exceeded in 2008, with installed capacity well as a US$188 million in financing from the Interna- reaching 12 GW as of the end of 2008, placing China in tional Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) fourth place in the world. Wind power development is for four renewable electricity investment projects—two expected to continue rapidly in the coming years, with wind farms, one biomass power plant, and a group of the 30 GW target for 2020 likely to be achieved much ear- small hydropower projects, mostly focusing on rehabilita- lier. We understand that the government is considering a tion of old facilities. significant upward revision of those targets. In light of the synergies between the government’s To implement such a significant wind power develop- emerging priorities and CRESP , the Government of ment program with unprecedented targets, the Govern- China asked the Bank to assist with the development ment of China has been considering the development of specific implementation guidance on large onshore, of wind farms in intertidal and offshore areas, in addi- intertidal, and offshore wind power development. With tion to scaling up to gigawatt-scale onshore wind power support from our partners at the Australian Agency for bases. Such an impressive development vision also International Development (AusAID) and the Asia Sus- necessitates the study and analysis of various important tainable and Alternative Energy Program (ASTAE), the aspects, including the assessment of wind resources and Bank was able to respond to the government’s request construction technologies for wind farms in offshore and rapidly. intertidal areas, as well as the integration of wind farms into the grid and the operation of a system with large This publication is the outcome of that cooperation, wind power capacity. The government is well aware that focusing on identifying lessons learned from international the development of large wind power bases, as well as experience and providing important implementation intertidal and offshore wind farms, poses several tech- guidance for large-scale onshore, intertidal, and offshore nical, operational, and financing challenges. The gov- wind farm development. We hope that it will be a useful ernment also recognizes the importance of having the input to China’s wind power development efforts. appropriate policy and regulatory framework in place. Wind power development is also an important area of focus of the China Renewable Energy Scale-Up Pro- John A. Roome gram (CRESP), which is a joint program of the Govern- Director, Sustainable Development ment of China, World Bank, and Global Environment East Asia and Pacific Region The World Bank xi Acknowledgments This publication is the product of a joint activity of the Workshop on Offshore Wind and Coastal Wind Base National Energy Administration (NEA) of the People’s Development held in Beijing in January 2009. Republic of China, and the World Bank (WB). This activ- ity was supported by the Australian Agency for Interna- The team leading the World Bank portion of this activity— tional Development (AusAID) and the Asia Sustainable Noureddine Berrah, Richard Spencer, Ranjit Lamech, and Alternative Energy Program (ASTAE). Its objective Yanqin Song, and Defne Gencer—would like to give spe- was to develop implementation guidance for large-scale cial recognition to peer reviewers Soren Krohn and Anil onshore, intertidal, and offshore wind farm development Cabraal, the staff of the Project Management Office of in China. the GOC-WB-GEF China Renewable Energy Scale-Up Program (CRESP), to editor Rebecca Kary, and to graphic The NEA-led portion of this activity was implemented designer Laura Johnson. under the leadership of Shi Lishan, Deputy Director Gen- eral of the NEA, and Han Wenke, Director of the Energy The World Bank team appreciates the support provided Research Institute (ERI). Various Chinese experts con- by the Australian Agency for International Development tributed to this activity, sharing their time and insights (AusAID)—both in financial resources and substantive with the team. They included He Dexin, Shi Pengfei, and inputs from its staff—namely, Alan Coulthart, Brian Daw- Qin Haiyan of China Wind Energy Association (CWEA); son, and Tim Suljada. The team wishes to acknowledge Wang Weisheng and Chen Mozi of China Electric Power the support from the Asia Sustainable and Alternative Research Institute (CEPRI); Yang Zhenbin of the China Energy Program (ASTAE) in preparing this report for pub- Meteorological Administration (CMA); Zhuang Yuexing of lication and dissemination. The team is thankful to Clive Zhong Hang Huiteng Wind Power Equipment Co. Ltd.; Harris, Frédéric Asseline, and Laurent Durix for their Gao Hui of Guohua Energy Investment Co. Ltd.; Wang effective coordination of the process of cooperation with Siyong of China Huaneng Group; Yang Xiaosheng of China these valued partners. Longyuan Electric Power Group Corp.; Wang Zhongjong and Li Yongfeng of Sany Group; and Zou Hua of China The World Bank team greatly appreciates the efforts of National Offshore Oil Corp. Of course, none of them Junhui Wu and Ede Ijjasz, who encouraged the pursuit of should be held personally responsible for any errors of this topic and provided the resources to make this publi- fact or interpretation that remain. cation possible. Andrew Garrad, Paul Gardner, Weiping Pan, and David Finally, the NEA and World Bank teams would like to Williams from Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited; and call attention to the leadership and guidance of Zhang Ming Hu from Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) Guobao, Administrator of the NEA. His inspired vision were the major contributors to this publication. In addi- and encouragement helped steer this effort to its ulti- tion, the activity benefited greatly from the feedback mately successful outcome. provided and discussions that took place during the xiii Abbreviations and Acronyms AC Alternating current GL Germanischer Lloyd (a recognized certificate) ASOS Automated Surface Observing System HV High voltage ASTAE Asia Sustainable and Alternative Energy HVDC High-voltage direct current Program IEC International Electrotechnical Commission AusAID Australian Agency for International (the basis of modern wind turbine design Development standards) BOP Balance of plant IGBT Insulated gate bipolar transistor CF Capacity factor LIDAR Light detection and ranging CRESP China Renewable Energy Scale-Up Program O&M Operations and maintenance DNV Det Norske Veritas (a recognized certificate) PPA Power purchase agreement EPC Engineering Procurement Construction R&D Research and development EU European Union ROC Renewable obligation certificate (tradable green credit) GB Acronym for standards issued by the Standardization Administration of China SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment GEF Global Environment Facility TSO Transmission system operator GIS Geographic information system WPB Wind power base Units of Measure m Meter m/s Meters per second GW Gigawatt MW Megawatt h Hour MWh Megawatt-hour km Kilometer t Ton kV Kilovolt tce Tons coal equivalent kW Kilowatt W/m2 Watts per square meter Currency Y = Yuan RMB = Renminbi xiv Part A Strategic Messages for Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Summary of Main Messages • A few years ago, China’s wind power utilization was hardly noticeable. It has made remarkable progress during the first three years of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006–11). In 2008, China had the fourth largest installed capacity of wind power in the world and a market growing at a rate that is likely to be the largest in the world in the com- ing years. The government plans to scale up onshore wind in resource-rich and sparsely populated regions of the country, undertake pilot intertidal projects, and initiate development work on medium- and deepwater offshore wind farms. The scale-up strategy is sound, but the pace should not be rushed at the expense of learning and efficiency. • The government has committed immense resources to onshore wind resource assessment. These efforts should be extended to intertidal and offshore resources. It is strongly recommended that all collected data be validated and assembled in a national geographic information system (GIS). • The government commitment to scaling up wind power development should be twinned with a clear objective to deliver electricity at a minimum cost. Efficiency is contingent upon ensuring that wind farms are built in places where key requirements for success are present: the best resources, adequate project designs, use of proven turbines, regulatory clarity, adequate incentives, and last but not least, appropriate operations and maintenance (O&M) practices that are carried out by skilled staff. • The grid is important. International experience has been good in planning wind farm operational integration. How- ever, grid connection and stability issues for gigawatt-scale wind bases, as envisaged in China, have no precedent anywhere in the world. Comprehensive connection studies, with special attention to the optimum connection size and connection circuit layout, should be undertaken with the involvement of all stakeholders. Short-term operational forecasting studies and the development of short-term wind forecasting methodologies are also necessary. • Preparing to go offshore and join the leading countries in this field is commendable. China could learn much from the successes and failures of other countries. Clear decisions about the appropriate legal framework in advance of any substantial projects are vital. • The envisaged pilot and demonstration project approach for intertidal and offshore development is sound. The aim of initial demonstration should be to gain experience in offshore specific technology and approaches—not to demonstrate turbine technology. 3 Overview of Key Findings and Recommendations The Soundness of China’s Wind with equivalent wind resources, leading to lower finan- Power Development Strategy cial and economic efficiency and nonoptimal use of resources. It must be noted that a 1 percent improve- China’s wind power development strategy is well articu- ment in the capacity factor from the current 20 percent lated in the 15-year plan (2006–2020) and the 11th Five- national average would increase the electricity output by Year Plan (FYP 2006–11). It consists of a three-pronged 5 percent, yield savings of about 5 percent of investment approach: cost for the same output, and lead to lower wind power prices. • Scale up onshore wind power bases (WPBs)1 in the northeast and northwest provinces (Gansu, Inner This increase in installed capacity has been accompanied Mongolia, and Xinjiang). WPBs are characterized by by an important development of the Chinese industry, locations with annual mean wind speeds higher than which accounted for about 62 percent of the total mar- 8.0 m/s and numerous sites with several gigawatts’ ket share (cumulative up to 2008): (a) five large-scale potential. domestic firms manufacturing International Electrotech- • Pilot intertidal 2 offshore, in the area between high- nical Commission (IEC)-certified turbines, (b) five foreign- and low-water marks (especially off the provinces owned joint venture firms manufacturing in China, and north of the mouth of the Yangtze), with wind speeds (c) more than 10 domestic firms with prototype testing roughly estimated to be in the range of 6.0–7 .0 m/s under way. (mostly along the coastal areas of Jiangsu, Shan- dong, and Shanghai). However, the Chinese wind power sector and industry • Initiate development work on medium- to deepwater are still relatively new and could benefit from the lessons offshore 3 with probably higher wind speeds than learned in other countries to avoid mistakes and gradu- intertidal areas, but this assumption is based on very ally build a strong and sound manufacturing base. The limited measurements in Fujian, Jiangsu, Guang- pace of scale-up should not be rushed at the expense of dong, Shandong, Shanghai, and Zhejiang. efficiency and learning. This strategy is illustrated in Figure B–1 on page 21. Principles for Developing a Scaled-Up The strategy is sound and has begun to yield results. By the end of 2008, China had the fourth largest installed and Efficient Portfolio of Projects capacity in the world, surpassing India for the first time China has good and abundant wind resources and large and becoming the wind power leader in developing coun- amounts of land, intertidal and offshore areas to exploit tries. The market is growing fast, and the government’s them. The government commitment to scaling up wind current objective is for installed capacity of wind power power development should be twinned with a clear to reach 30 GW by 2020. However, China’s wind farms objective to deliver electricity at minimum cost. The pace have a lower capacity factor than wind farms in countries of scale-up should not be rushed at the expense of effi- ciency, which is contingent upon the following five major 1. Wind power bases (WPBs): Large-scale onshore wind farms of principles: the order of several gigawatts. 2. Intertidal offshore: Wind farms that are constructed between the low- and high-tide marks along the shore. 1. Confirmation of wind characteristics 3. Offshore wind farms: Wind farms that are constructed in the 2. Adequate project design and proven turbines ocean. 3. Assurance of regulatory clarity, predictability and adequate incentives 4. Availability of skilled staff for design, manufacture, and O&M 5. Getting grid planning and development right. 4 Part A: Strategic Messages for Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power 5 Principle 1: Confirmation of Wind A comprehensive and systematic set of wind measure- Characteristics ments according to the specifications provided in the “Implementation Guidance” in Part B of this publication is The importance of proper wind resource assessment therefore highly recommended. It is also recommended is paramount both for identifying areas of interest to that, even when wind farms have been developed, high- develop wind and for project-specific needs. A system- quality reference masts be left in place to determine atic and organized national measurement program is whether the wind farms are achieving the planned effi- required. (An overview of some past and present resource ciency goals. assessment efforts in China is available in Part C, Sec- tion C–2.) The government recently initiated a national wind resource assessment effort to serve this purpose, Principle 2: Adequate Project Design for which it has budgeted US$40 million. It intends to and Proven Turbines support a comprehensive wind database development backed by a credible protocol and measurement verifica- China gained sizable experience in designing and devel- tion. The program is under implementation. It is strongly oping 100 MW wind farms, and projects developed by recommended that the data be validated and assembled emerging national developers meet best international in a national GIS because systematic site-specific wind practice. However, the scale of several gigawatts consid- data collection is vital for the scale and pace of wind ered for the WPBs is unprecedented. Therefore, detailed power development in China. layout planning with wind tunnel studies is highly recom- mended to maximize the output of considered bases Identical efforts should be made for intertidal and off- because the potential for wake effect losses are greater shore resources. Extrapolation of existing meteorological in simple or low roughness areas (sea, rolling hills, or data confirmed by the very few offshore platforms now plateaus, as found in northwest China). The WPBs may providing data is a good start. However, before under- exhibit a similar behavior to that of offshore wind farms taking expensive offshore investments, it is necessary in Europe. to assess the intertidal and offshore resources by iden- tifying locations for detailed site-specific measurements The wakes in large offshore wind farms in Europe appear and, as for onshore data, to collect, validate, and assem- to behave differently from the wakes in medium-size ble the data in a national GIS. onshore wind farms. This difference in behavior is thought to be a result of the relatively low turbulence of the wind Wind characteristics are also essential to build an effi- offshore, which does not mix up the flow behind a tur- cient wind farm. The importance of wind speed cannot bine in the same way that happens onshore. Figure A–1 be overemphasized. An otherwise identical turbine pro- illustrates the wake effect in offshore wind farms. The duces twice the energy at a site with an annual mean difference in energy production between upwind and wind speed of 9.0 m/s as at one with an annual mean downwind rows of turbines, which can result from this wind speed of 6.5 m/s. If poor wind measurements behavior, could easily be of the order of 20 percent, and are made, the estimates of energy production will be hence urgent and detailed investigation is required. unreliable and investments will be in jeopardy. To date, adequate measurements have not been made for the Figure A–1: Illustration of the Wake Effect large-scale developments in China even if their costs are very small compared to the size of investments or the lost revenue because of inadequate estimation of wind characteristics. For example, the cost of one 2 MW tur- bine will pay for 50 more meteorological masts (even more than 100 by European standards), and a 10 percent loss of energy production from a 3.8 GW WPB would result in lost revenue that could cover the purchase of 1,900 masts every single year, according to estimates provided by Chinese experts. Source: Vattenfall. 6 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Utilizing proven and certified turbines is essential, par- turbines that are not optimized for Chinese site con- ticularly for offshore applications, because dealing with ditions, especially the WPBs. In the latter case, such even minor problems offshore can be expensive. Inter- an approach is unsustainable because the costs of national experience indicates that the use of unproven using under- or overdesigned turbines are huge. turbines has derailed offshore programs. • Upgrading and/or designing new turbines to make them more grid friendly. Turbines should be able The success of the momentous scale-up of wind power to control the power factor and provide fault-ride- in China is contingent on building a domestic manufactur- through capability. ing base capable of supplying in the quantities and at the • Providing government support to develop domes- level of quality required. The performance and availability tic turbines with a capacity of more than 4 MW for of Chinese turbines to date have been poorer than antici- eventual offshore deployment. pated. In order to avoid large-scale deployment of unreli- able turbines, two steps are necessary and urgent: The importance of detailed and accurate wind mea- surements cannot be overemphasized. Such data are 1. Detailed investigation of the reasons for poor per- absolutely vital for accurate determination of the energy formance to date, likely involving a combination of production from a wind farm, both on- and offshore. poor calculation methodology, poor availability of the turbine, and poor quality of design and manufacture 2. Development of an effective quality assurance sys- Principle 3: Providing Regulatory Clarity, tem at all levels in China, including standards, certifi- Stability, and Adequate Incentives cation, manufacturing, and R&D. The Renewable Energy Law and subsequent rules and regulations gradually built a pragmatic regulatory frame- Experience from Europe suggests that much can be work for the development of wind power. The framework learned from a detailed examination of the turbine dif- is based essentially on (a) a renewable energy obliga- ficulties and that the results of such examinations should tion or “mandated market share” (except hydropower) be made available for proposed detailed investigations. for both the energy producers and the grid, referred to in China as the “renewable energy quota system”; Based on lessons learned in other countries, several (b) a concession system for wind power requiring price measures are recommended for consideration by Chi- bidding for all wind farms with a capacity equal to or more nese authorities to bring Chinese turbines up to inter- than 50 MW; and (c) subsidies from a Renewable Energy national standards and to meet the scale-up challenge. Fund, sustained through a national surcharge on electric- These measures include the following: ity prices, which was set as 0.2 fen/kWh in 2009. • Exerting some competitive pressure on China’s wind The regulatory framework triggered China’s unmatched manufacturing industry growth in yearly installed onshore capacity. However, it • Encouraging technical innovation: R&D and leap- may be timely to evaluate and fine-tune the concession frogging to cutting-edge technologies are essential. system to ensure greater efficiency than experienced in China should not wait for Western development. The the early stages of the program to increase clarity and costs for developing new turbines are affordable ensure consistency of the price bidding with the perfor- to large Chinese manufacturers: US$5 million for mance-based subsidy. design and US$15 million per prototype per turbine are small, considering the production potential. Sci- Given the relative novelty of the offshore wind develop- entific investigation of the behavior of prototypes is ment program in China, the regulatory framework is yet necessary. to be built. This is understandable, since certain areas • Developing turbine specifications based on a Chi- of the regulatory regimes of most of the countries that nese wind regime to adapt turbines to “Chinese have embarked or are embarking on offshore programs wind conditions” and reduce cost of development. are considered inappropriate. This theme is of particular The design standards that are used by the global importance in the area of consenting, where in many industry are based on northern European sites and cases existing legislation designed to regulate other conditions. The result is that the scale-up is based on activities, such as oil and gas exploitation or shipping, Part A: Strategic Messages for Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power 7 has been applied to offshore wind power activities. This trained people. Some experts estimate that the use of approach could become a significant barrier to offshore inadequately trained personnel and poor O&M practices wind deployment and lead to a complex and uncertain result in 1–2 percent energy losses in U.S. wind farms. consenting route, higher project costs, delays, and ulti- mately potential failures. Clear decisions about the The following are therefore recommended: appropriate legal framework in advance of any substan- tial projects are vital. • Undertake a strategic assessment of manpower and prepare capacity-building and training programs to It is therefore recommended that the government upgrade and develop skills at a scale commensurate develop an appropriate legislative framework that is with the intended scale-up program. targeted specifically at the promotion of offshore wind. • Leverage available skills by using technology and These wind projects are set to be a major part of the management systems wisely, for example, by: offshore economy and hence, for the long term, it is not u Reviewing O&M practices in existing farms and sensible to try to fit them into existing legislation, but preparing and implementing programs to im- rather to create the appropriate legislation directly. prove O&M procedures and practices u Using SCADA systems and turbine condi- Regulation change, complexity, and excessive red tape tion monitoring systems to support predictive can damage the confidence of investors, as experienced maintenance in many countries. For example, instability in the incen- u Centralizing operations for several wind farms tive framework in the Netherlands has been identified as to achieve economies of scale. a major issue in that national market. Higher-level, clear, and stable regulatory requirements, incentives, and gov- ernment support are required at the early stage of off- Principle 5: Getting Grid Planning and shore wind power development. Development Right It is recognized that the variability and limited predictabil- Different measures have been used to give developers ity of wind could affect grid operation, especially if wind an incentive to build offshore wind farms. These have power penetration and concentration are high. In many ranged from tradable green credits (renewable obligation countries, projects, particularly those offshore, have certificates, or ROCs, in the United Kingdom) through been delayed due to issues relating to grid connection, prices determined by competitive tenders (Denmark) to such as the lack of clarity about technical requirements, feed-in tariff structures that will be used to encourage or division of responsibilities for grid financing and con- German developers. The Spanish government, which has struction. International experience has been a good had a major success with its onshore wind farm promo- resource for planning the operational integration of wind tional activities, but has yet to start commercial offshore farms. Solutions have been designed and effectively operation, has undertaken a review of the tariff structures implemented in many countries, leading to increased and opted for a bidding process. It is recommended that wind power penetration in many European countries and China follow a similar approach with a fixed price paid per in some U.S. states. It must, however, be noted that grid megawatt-hour for the energy produced, but competitive connection and stability issues for gigawatt-scale wind bids would be submitted for each development. bases, as envisaged in China, have no precedent glob- ally. China is bound to take the lead on this issue in the Principle 4: Availability of Skilled Staff for following ways: Design, Construction, and O&M • Undertaking comprehensive connection studies in- China’s wind energy aspirations can be met only through volving all stakeholders, with special attention to substantial development of expertise in engineering, the optimum connection size and connection circuit construction, and O&M. Developing human resources layout for the envisaged scale-up in China is a daunting task. • Initiating short-term operational forecasting stud- The need for the availability of an appropriate skills mix ies and developing short-term forecasting method- is equally important in the West, where expansion of ologies. the wind energy resource is also limited by the lack of 8 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power For onshore wind, a new grid code on wind power devel- Achievement of Desired Outcomes in opment is necessary. It should be prepared by the State Onshore WPBs, Intertidal, and Offshore Grid Corporation in consultation with industry stakehold- ers. The code would clarify the technical connection The principles discussed above apply differently to the requirements for onshore and offshore wind farms and three components of China’s wind power development clarify the duties and responsibilities of all concerned par- program, that is, onshore WPB, intertidal, and offshore. ties to minimize the technical uncertainty faced by wind Implementation of these principles needs to be tailored developers. to these three components. For offshore wind farms, consideration should be given to providing grid connections free of charge to approved Developing WPBs Carefully to Consolidate demonstration projects at wind farm voltage and building Onshore Success an offshore wind energy grid by a new agency (or alter- natively extending existing grid corporations’ responsibili- Success of envisaged WPBs is contingent upon recogni- ties to offshore). tion of their specific and unprecedented technical risks and drawing lessons from drawbacks and problems encountered during the design, construction, and opera- tion phases of past projects. Four areas require special Desired Outcomes for China’s focus during the scale-up: Wind Development Program 1. Site layout design philosophy Successful implementation of the recommendations and Optimization is likely to demonstrate that very large quan- principles above should focus on achieving the following tities of wind power generation will be better installed in desirable outcomes: a dispersed manner to produce more reliable, cheaper electricity and have a smaller impact on the electrical sys- Effective utilization of wind resources by tem. Layout design of wind farms of the envisaged scale • Improving wind farm capacity factors and avail- requires effort and financial resources to ensure optimal ability use of resources. Two essential activities should be car- • Ensuring coordinated grid development plans and ried out prior to the important investments in gigawatt- system operation scale wind farms: • Adequate resource assessment to achieve effective and optimal utilization. • Optimal dispersion study to determine the optimal configuration of the WPB Development of a globally competitive domestic • Wind tunnel assessment to evaluate turbine con- industry through centration in order to optimize dispersion to avoid • Promotion of quality and reliability across the entire the wake losses inherent to large sites while ensur- spectrum of hardware and components ing best economies of scale in construction and • Design and development of turbines suited to the operation. Chinese wind regime • Development of a credible certification system 2. Electrical integration studies and grid code • Innovation, rather than imitation, to bring China to Past development of wind power in China has been the technological cutting edge. characterized by a lack of or limited cooperation among concerned agencies. The envisaged scale-up requires Setting up a clear and stable policy framework and improved cooperation, systematic grid connection stud- performance-based incentives by ies, deployment of grid-friendly turbines, and develop- • Developing government support and incentives for ment of a grid code. R&D and risky demonstration projects—particularly offshore • Grid connection and integration studies: Optimization of • Providing incentives based on generation output connection capacity based on expected continuous (megawatt-hours) rather than capacity (megawatts). output, assessment of system reliability issues, loss of generation, and operational regime. Part A: Strategic Messages for Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power 9 • Improved wind turbine generator technology: Use of • Evaluate foundation types in conjunction with the new generation of turbines with better power fac- most efficient construction approach (for example, tor control and grid fault management capability to building an access road and using onshore construc- reduce disturbances on the grid. tion methods or dredging a channel for floating plat- • Grid code definition: Based on these assessments, it form access). is important to determine the performance require- • Initiate pilot and demonstration projects. ments (grid code requirements) that will be imposed • Identify two or three intertidal wind farm sites based on the wind turbines to reduce uncertainty. The on adequate geotechnical studies and carry out site- looser they are, the greater will be the expense of specific measurements for at least 12–24 months. the transmission system operator (TSO). There is a • Develop the sites efficiently at the 100 MW scale clear tradeoff between the expense of meeting rig- using qualified project developers with an agreed orous requirements imposed on the wind turbines incentive package. at the turbine level and the expense of meeting the same requirements at the grid level. Managing the Risks Related 3. Wind resource assessment and site selection to Going Offshore This would require developing a reference database and Going offshore entails higher costs and risks and therefore systematic refinement and verification of available data requires careful planning and piloting to reap expected and measurement by gains for China. Two major tasks should be undertaken as soon as possible and their results assessed prior to • Comparing historical meteorological data with data full-scale development of medium-to-deep offshore pro- from new measurement masts grams. They include the preparatory activities to create • Equipping potential sites with an adequate number an enabling environment and demonstration projects. of measurement masts and collecting data for at The preparatory activities include at a minimum the least 12–24 months. following: • Undertaking wake modeling studies. • Defining the legal regime and institutional arrangements: 4. Turbine choice—R&D These should assess current responsibilities and WPBs should be equipped with certified and “commer- functions of institutions involved in regulating off- cially proven” turbines adapted to Chinese conditions. shore activities and gradually developing a legal and This would require the following: institutional framework that can improve coordina- tion for offshore wind. • Defining and adopting Chinese wind turbine • Addressing grid development and integration issues: specifications This activity should define appropriate high-voltage • Improving testing and certification capacity to cope connection points and circuits, as well as respective with Chinese wind class definition. responsibilities, and schedule for development and China as a Pioneer in Intertidal completion an offshore grid code as an extension of the existing codes and regulations. Wind Power Development • Developing a database and identifying appropriate sites: Development costs in intertidal areas are expected to be This is particularly crucial for offshore development. lower than medium to deep offshore costs. However, as This could be achieved through (a) the development the pioneer in wind power development in intertidal areas, of a master GIS that will assemble data on wind China needs to learn by doing and innovating. Therefore, speed, undersea and bathymetric data, wave height, demonstration projects could be costlier than expected. and so forth; (b) the initiation of wind speed mea- The proposed approach is similar to the initiation of off- surements and computational model studies using a shore development with special focus on systematic col- standardized (national) approach in consultation with lection of geotechnical foundation data and assessment, industry; and (c) requirement of at least 12 months because constructing foundations on muddy tidal flats of wind measurements on site prior to preparation and erecting turbines can be very expensive. There is a of the feasibility study. need to do the following: 10 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power • Determining government support for a two- to three- Learning from Offshore year program: This would preferably be done through Demonstration Projects developing prefeasibility level cost estimates for select projects and determining the level of govern- The aim of initial demonstration is to gain experience in ment support and incentives. offshore-specific techniques and approach—not to dem- onstrate turbine technology. Therefore, demonstration The project demonstration and knowledge building task projects should do the following: requires the following: • Use proven turbines, which may have to be procured • Pilot projects (for immediate development): Two to four outside of China if Chinese manufacturers do not potential sites should be selected and wind mea- meet specified technical requirements surements conducted for at least 12 months to • Focus on learning techniques in construction and begin pilot projects. The projects should be in the erection, maintenance practices, and cabling rapidly range of 30–50 MW with approximately 10 turbines. • Obtain information to improve design methodology. The objective at this stage is to gain knowledge and experience on foundations, logistics, erection, and The aim of commercial-scale demonstration is to build maintenance. The government support is expected “industrial capabilities” to implement large-scale proj- to be higher for these projects. ects and to operate them efficiently. They should do the • Planning for commercial scale demonstration projects (to following: be initiated in the second year): These projects should be more carefully designed and planned with special • Focus on committed and qualified wind developers focus on detailed wind measurements and the lay- with a proven track record out of wind turbine arrays. At least two projects that • Develop prototype vessels for the construction and can attract developer interest should be considered installation of offshore wind turbines and strongly supported by the government. These • Develop the supporting industry for foundation projects should use turbines that have been proven construction onshore. • Develop the vessels necessary for regular and reli- able access, and establish maintenance practices. Part B Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China By Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited Section B–1 Summary and Key Recommendations China has already established a vibrant wind energy Whatever specific technology is used to develop the industry. Exploitation of China’s wind energy resource is resource, there are two common risks: included in its 11th Five-Year Plan. In 2009, China is likely to be the largest wind energy market in the world. A few 1. The ability of the turbines to deliver reliable power years ago, its presence was scarcely noticeable. There 2. The ability of the grid to transmit and distribute that are key decisions to be made over how this resource power. will be exploited. This part investigates the technical and institutional issues that arise in the three segments of Ways of addressing each of these issues are discussed in Chinese wind power development program. the subsequent sections, covering detailed recommen- dations for offshore, intertidal, and large-scale onshore • Wind power bases (WPBs)—large-scale onshore wind power development. wind farms of the order of several gigawatts • Offshore wind farms—wind farms that are con- Offshore wind, even in the countries where there has structed in the ocean been much activity, is still relatively immature. The capital • Intertidal offshore—wind farms that are constructed cost per installed megawatt is at least twice that of large- between the low- and high-tide marks along the scale onshore wind. In European waters, where most shore. activity has been centered, the winds offshore are sig- nificantly higher than the winds onshore. That increased The scale of the proposed development in China is huge resource does, to some extent, counterbalance the and the pace of that development is fast. The purpose of increased capital cost. It is not clear that that will be this part of the publication is to learn from experiences the case in China. The highest winds appear to be in the in other countries and share those lessons with China, inland northern areas. The issue facing Chinese offshore thereby making it possible for China to avoid mistakes development is therefore different from that encoun- made elsewhere or use techniques that have success- tered in Europe. The cheapest installed capacity and the fully allowed the development of wind energy projects highest wind speeds are available inland, but they are on a large scale.4 far from the load, which is centered on the east coast. A crucial step, which the Chinese government must take in 4. Part B was prepared by Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. order to optimize the use of its wind energy resource, is Although this part can be read as a stand-alone piece, it is supported a detailed calculation of the relative costs of offshore and by a rather detailed report entitled, Regulatory Review of Offshore wind power–based electricity delivered to the load. Wind in Five European Countries published as a companion to this publication. 13 14 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Recommendations for Offshore Wind contained in this report is to follow a similar line in which a fixed price would be paid per MWh for the energy pro- A Central Agency for Permitting duced, but competitive bids would be submitted for each development. Given the high cost of activity offshore, The novel nature of offshore wind has meant that many and in line with the discussions above about the provision different approaches have been used to encourage its of grid access, the proposals also suggest that as much development in the different European countries. It has background information as possible should be gathered become apparent in all of these countries that there are using central funds rather than developers’ own funds. specific problems raised by the development of wind This philosophy includes the gathering of wind data and farms in the sea that are not encountered either by other geotechnical and bathymetric data. The approach is to maritime developments or by onshore wind farms. Much provide the bidders with as detailed a description as pos- time and effort have been wasted in lengthy and unsuc- sible of the sites in order to allow them to provide the cessful permitting activities. A clear conclusion from the best prices. different national activities is that a central agency should be used, at least to gather essential information about all the siting constraints and, preferably, to issue licenses Stakeholder Consultation for offshore wind developments. That approach has been The use of a central agency to gather data and, prefer- successfully followed in Denmark, where the develop- ably, to issue licenses, will also permit the gathering of ment of an offshore wind farm, once a political decision information about the potential developments and, ulti- has been taken to promote this energy source, is a rela- mately, the identification of appropriate sites. It is also tively simple matter. strongly recommended that such site selection should be done in conjunction with the commercial developers, Grid Connection Arrangements since in other jurisdictions it has been found that sites identified by central agencies may not be coincident A similar conclusion has been reached about the provision with those that are preferred by the developers. A strong of a grid connection to offshore developments. Again, dif- consultative voice coming from the stakeholders—devel- ferent models have been followed, but a clear conclusion opers, vessel owners, turbine manufacturers, the grid from international experience is that, given the relatively company—as well as other users of the oceans, will be risky nature of offshore wind development, developers an important input into the site selection process. are unlikely to be able to accommodate the large capital cost associated with the grid connection at their own risk. The most successful countries in Europe have therefore Systematic Site Characterization and Selection decided that the provision of a free grid connection is Site selection of offshore wind farms is a time-consum- the correct course to take. Other approaches will be pos- ing and expensive process. It is therefore suggested that sible once the industry has become more established, techo-economic and environmental feasibility for offshore and third-party investors may be prepared to operate an wind be assessed at a national or provincial strategic offshore grid as a commercial entity in itself. No deci- level prior to the award of any sites for development. The sion has been made in Europe as to whether it is correct site identification would include competing uses of the to have the onshore transmission system operator also ocean, water depth, wave height, grid connection, envi- responsible for the offshore grid. Central provision of the ronmental acceptability, and absence of excessively high grid connection is necessary. winds or waves. Such data would be stored in a central GIS system and be used to identify the appropriate sites Fiscal Incentives that would then be subject to stakeholder discussions as mentioned above. Different fiscal measures have been used to incentiv- ize developers to build offshore wind farms. These have ranged from tradeable green credits (ROCs in the United Strategic Environment Assessment Kingdom) through to feed-in tariff structures in Denmark, European experience has demonstrated the importance which will also be used to encourage the German devel- of undertaking a strategic environment assessment that opers. The Spanish government, which has had major allows long-term strategic planning for the future use of success with its onshore wind farm promotional activi- offshore regions to include offshore wind deployment. ties, but has yet to start commercial offshore operation, A strategic planning tool of this sort can avoid potential has undertaken a review of the tariff structures and has stakeholder conflicts and improve the efficiency of grid decided that it will opt for a bidding process. The proposal connections. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 15 Proven Turbines would allow improvement of design methodology. It is important, therefore, that a strong scientific element be To achieve the scale that is possible and, indeed, sug- attached to these demonstration projects. gested in the five-year plan, it will be essential to use proven turbines. The speed of development that has A further set of demonstration projects would follow the been witnessed in the onshore part of the market brings initial ones described above, and they would be sized with it the risk that the wind farms will simply not work at, say, 100 turbines per project. Again, these projects because the turbines have not been adequately proven should not be aimed at turbine development, but rather in advance. Experience in Europe has shown that dealing at wind farm development. They would be undertaken with a relatively small problem offshore becomes a major on the basis of the fiscal instruments described above, issue, although it would scarcely have been noticed if and the successful outcome would be the development it had occurred in an onshore wind farm. It is therefore of prototype vessels for the construction and installation very important that the growth of the offshore wind farm of offshore turbines, generation of substantial interest development be matched to the maturity of the domestic in the supporting industry, provision of foundations and wind turbines available for that purpose. cable laying, and initial experience of commercial off- shore wind farms. Wind Data A series of offshore masts should be erected and data Turbine Research and Development from them made available to all bidders. Bidders would These two steps have been successfully followed in both be able to erect additional masts if they so desire. The Denmark and the United Kingdom. In addition to these importance of detailed and accurate wind measurements demonstration projects, there is a series of technology cannot be overemphasized. Such data are absolutely vital developments that should be undertaken in parallel, for accurate determination of the energy production from mainly aimed at the development of domestic Chinese a wind farm, both on- and offshore. offshore turbines. An important part of this development is the design and prototype testing of several separate, Demonstration Projects large, say, 4 MW, turbines. It is suggested that this be done by Chinese industry immediately, and that there Some demonstration projects are also recommended. is no merit in waiting for the development of Western Such projects have proved to be very powerful in the technology as a steppingstone in this direction. It is con- early development of the offshore wind industry in other sidered that the development of the technology in China countries. These projects have been shown to yield three itself will be required in order for the Chinese resource benefits: to be adequately exploited by Chinese industry. Each of these prototype turbines should be accompanied by a 1. Lessons about the practical installation of turbines scientific investigation of their behavior. It is suggested offshore that the cost per turbine for this design effort and a single 2. Establishment of the identity of all stakeholders prototype test would be US$20 million. through demonstration 3. Knowledge of the loading environment of the off- shore turbines. Infrastructure Research and Development Turbine activity should be supported by infrastructure It is proposed that these initial projects be quite modest research and development, including foundation research in size, perhaps 10 turbines each, and be executed as and development, special vessel design, and investiga- rapidly as possible with commissioning programmed for tion of access solutions. Access for offshore wind farms the first half of 2010. It is stressed that these projects is an important part of assuring a high level of availability are not projects to demonstrate offshore wind turbines; and therefore reliable production. rather, they are projects to demonstrate offshore wind farms. The projects would be partly funded through capi- tal grants. Prototype turbines should not, therefore, be Physical Grid Connection used in these projects. Proven turbines should be used in their place. A successful outcome of such a dem- The grid connection and the electrical infrastructure onstration project would be the rapid learning of basic remain vital parts of this process, and a detailed evalua- lessons concerning access, cabling, construction, and tion of the grid design and the grid interconnections must operation, as well as important scientific information that be undertaken. European work suggests that some large wind farms located far offshore will be connected using 16 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology. The devel- challenges and will increase the efficiency of the wind opment of HVDC technology in China is relatively new; farms and, hence, improve their economics. Such a study hence, it may be sensible to rely on Western technology can be undertaken using data from the WPBs themselves to develop these tools. and through statistical approaches using measured wind data. The outcome will define the optimal configuration for WPB design in the future. Certification Various other, essentially scientific, supporting activi- Grid Connection ties are also suggested and, finally, the development of Chinese certification rules for offshore wind farms is The electrical integration of the WPBs is also amenable recommended. to analytical treatment. A statistical investigation should be undertaken into the interaction of the WPBs with the local and national grid, thereby allowing a proper speci- Recommendations for Intertidal Wind fication of the grid upgrades required and also identifi- cation of the level of generation support that arises. The intertidal resource is concentrated in the coastal Recommendations are also provided that describe sys- region north of Shanghai. Adequate grid connection for tematic connection studies that should be undertaken for a substantial quantity of wind energy exists in this area; each of the WPBs. hence, grid connection, at least in terms of capacity, is not an issue. As is the case for all large-scale connec- Grid Code tions, the interaction with the grid is, of course, important and must be carefully considered. There is no interna- The technical connection requirements for any form of tional experience of intertidal development and, hence, generation are normally described in a grid code. Depend- lessons cannot be directly learned from elsewhere. The ing on the jurisdiction, the grid code may be statutory resource in this area is large in geographical area, but or it may be advisory. There is a great deal of activity at the wind speeds are not well known; hence, it is recom- present under way in Europe concentrating on the devel- mended that an immediate measurement campaign be opment of appropriate grid codes for large-scale con- established in order to gain a proper estimate of the wind nection of wind farms. A clear understanding of these resource for the intertidal developments. The main engi- requirements is necessary, from a technical standpoint neering tasks are the design and installation of the foun- and from a commercial standpoint. It is strongly advised dations and, later, the installation of the turbines, given that concentrated effort should be devoted to the devel- the very soft conditions that are prevalent on these sites. opment of an appropriate grid code for the connection of Two approaches are suggested: one is the use of barges WPBs and, for that matter, offshore projects to the grid. and artificially excavated canals using standard dredging This is an area where very helpful input is available from techniques, and the other is the use of a large mechani- the various working parties addressing this very issue, in cal “crawler style” plant. It is recommended that an ini- both Europe and the United States. tial costing exercise be undertaken of any viable solution and, if that costing exercise produces favorable results, a demonstration project should be constructed. Grid-Friendly Turbines Some of the regulatory requirements that may come from the development of a grid code may call for techni- Recommendations for cal innovations in the wind turbines that are not pres- Wind Power Bases ently available from domestic Chinese manufacturers. It is therefore also suggested that the Chinese manu- The initial WPB construction is already under way, and facturers devote considerable effort to the development much important data will result from initial experience of these new facilities, which should make the wind with the WPBs. Despite the fact that some projects are turbines more “grid friendly. ” An obvious example of being built, it is suggested that a rigorous investigation of such a quality is a low-voltage ride-through capability and the optimal dispersion of a 10 GW WPB be undertaken on dynamic VAR support. Such facilities are now commonly an urgent basis. There may be considerable advantages available from Western suppliers, but are not yet avail- both electrically and aerodynamically in dispersing these able in China, and will be needed in order to provide sat- large projects over a wider area than presently envis- isfactory connections to the grid. aged. Such dispersion will ease the electrical integration Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 17 Resource Measurements and Turbines for Chinese Conditions Wind Assessment The scale of development proposed in the WPBs is huge. As with the offshore projects, the importance of proper The design standards that are used by the global industry wind resource assessment is paramount. If poor wind are based on northern European site conditions. There measurements are made, the estimates of energy pro- is no such thing as “a Chinese site condition. ” Rather, duction will be unreliable and investments will be in jeop- there will be a range of site conditions that character- ardy. To date, adequate measurements have not been ize the different Chinese sites that are being developed. made for the large-scale developments in China. The cost It is clear that some of these will be markedly different of one 2 MW turbine will pay for 100–200 meteorological from those assumed in the IEC standards. The result is masts. A 10 percent reduction in the energy production that turbines are being deployed in the WPBs that are from a 3.8 GW WPB would result in lost revenue equiva- not designed to be optimized for the conditions that are lent to 1,500 masts every single year. A comprehensive found there. Such an outcome is to be expected when and systematic set of wind measurements is therefore volumes are small, but for the volume anticipated for the recommended, and specifications are given. It is also WPBs, this is an unsustainable position. It is possible recommended that, even when wind farms have been that the turbines are underdesigned for some aspects of developed, high-quality reference masts should be left the site conditions and overdesigned for others. Without in place, so that it will be possible to determine whether detailed investigation of these parameters, it is hard to the wind farms have actually produced according to their say what the outcome will be, but it is possible that sav- estimates. ings in costs of energy could be of the order of 10–15 percent if proper design parameters are incorporated and the turbines optimized for the conditions. Energy Prediction—Wakes The wakes in large-scale offshore wind farms in Europe Short-Term Forecasting appear to behave differently from the wakes in medium- size onshore wind farms. This difference in behavior is The large-scale integration of wind energy into the grid thought to be to a result of the relatively low turbulence requires the wind farms to appear as much as possible of the wind offshore, which does not mix up the flow like conventional power stations. To some extent, this behind a turbine in the same way that happens onshore. can be done by improvements to the electrical systems, The difference in energy production, which can result as described above, and to some extent it can be done from this behavior, could easily be of the order of 20 per- through the use of “short-term forecasting. ” This term cent; hence, urgent and detailed investigation is required. is used to describe estimation of hourly power produc- This observation is included here, since it is thought that tion from wind farms from one hour to one day ahead. the WPBs may exhibit a similar behavior. Various courses Impressive progress has been made in these techniques of action are suggested: in Europe, so it is strongly recommended that pilot projects using short-term forecasting for the WPBs be • Build the rows of the WPBs in a progressive manner, initiated immediately. Experience elsewhere has demon- allowing measurements to be made on the perfor- strated that data from such forecasts can be used to help mance of the WPBs as each row is built. the transmission system operators take a constructive • Develop a large wind farm using small turbines that view of wind farm integration. can be used for experimental purposes. • Develop computational techniques to model this Proven Turbines effect. Ultimately the WPBs will all use domestic Chinese tur- The loss of 10 percent production from a 3.8 GW WPB bines. The performance and availability of these turbines that receives US$60/MWh for its energy is equivalent to to date have been poorer than anticipated. In order to a loss of US$60 million per year; therefore, the invest- avoid large-scale deployment of unreliable turbines, vari- ment in some R&D activities is very well worthwhile. It is ous steps are necessary. The turbines can be improved also strongly recommended that detailed measurements through several routes, and recommendations for each on the WPBs be undertaken as a matter of course. are suggested. The development of a strong and well- informed Chinese certification agency is considered to be an important step. Detailed investigation of the reasons for poor performance to date is suggested: a 18 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power combination of poor calculation methodology, poor avail- Training ability of the turbine, and poor quality of design and man- The Chinese wind energy aspirations can be met only ufacture. Experience from Europe suggests that much through substantial development in manufacturing, tech- can be learned from a detailed examination of these dif- nology, and people. It is clear that proper infrastructure ficulties. The data describing them should be made avail- must be put in place that will deliver the staff that are able for such investigations. needed to deliver this potential. This problem is equally important in the West, where expansion of the wind Turbine Supply Agreements energy resource is also limited by the lack of trained staff. Substantial wind farms in the United States appear to The contractual arrangements between developers and be losing 1–2 percent of their energy as a result of poor manufacturers in China are substantially different from O&M practices and, in particular, through the use of inad- those seen in the West, and suggestions are made as to equately trained staff. It would be surprising if the same how those contracts could be improved to pass availability thing were not true, perhaps to an even greater degree, and performance obligations on to the manufacturers. in China. Operational Data Western Due Diligence Evidence from the West is that good operational and load Finally, some specific recommendations are made about data from a large-scale operating wind farm are of vital the technical and commercial requirements that will be importance and, when properly analyzed, can lead to sub- needed if at some stage there is an intention to attract stantial improvements in the performance of wind farms Western finance to the development or ownership of collectively and wind turbines individually. Such data are Chinese wind farms. often kept confidential, so it is recommended that care- ful thought be given to the availability of these data, so that they can be used for the benefit of the industry as a whole. Section B–2 Detailed Implementation Guidance Policy Context in China • Take advantage of the relatively well-developed coastal areas in Jiangsu, Shanghai, Fujian, Shan- In order to appreciate the challenges that are being dong, and Guangdong to expedite the development faced by the Chinese wind energy industry, it is useful and utilization of wind energy resources and con- to understand the level of political commitment that has struct gigawatt-scale WPBs that connect with each been provided to wind energy by the Chinese govern- other, especially in Jiangsu and Shanghai coastal ment. A short, broad summary is provided below. areas. The total installation will be more than 1 GW in Jiangsu and Shanghai coastal areas by 2010. The Outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Eco- • Construct numerous large-scale 100 MW wind nomic and Social Development enacted by the 4th Ses- farms in regions with good wind energy resource sion of the 10th NPC states that “preferential fiscal, tax, and power markets. investment and MMS policies to encourage renewable energy production and consumption, and increase the Specific priorities have also been expressed as follows: proportion of renewable energy in primary energy con- sumption” will be implemented as a priority. The outline • Support the development of domestic industry to points out that upscaling the construction of wind farms manufacture wind power equipment in combina- encourages wind power industrialization, promotes wind tion with large-scale wind farm construction, espe- power technical progress, improves local wind power cially gigawatt-level WPB construction. Assist two equipment manufacturing capacity, reduces wind power domestic wind turbine manufacturers with strong costs, and enhances its market competitiveness. technological innovation capabilities and improve the technical abilities of the domestic technical manu- Priorities for wind power development include the facturing capacity, together with the manufacture of following: the required spare parts. Establish national test wind farms, and support wind power equipment testing • Fully take advantage of the wind energy resources in and certification competence. northeast China, north China, and northwest China, • Conduct offshore wind power experiments. Con- and build large and very large-scale wind farms.5 struct model offshore wind farms in offshore water, Construct 30 large-scale wind farms of more than mainly in the Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Guangdong 100 MW and 5 WPBs of 1 GW. Prepare and con- coastal areas to gain experience of offshore wind struct WPBs of 10 GW in Gansu, Inner Mongolia, power investigations, design, construction, installa- and along the Jiangsu and Shanghai coast. tion, and O&M. Gradually develop the technology of offshore wind power equipment based on real expe- rience of offshore wind power operation. 5. Large scale, in this context, is greater than 100 MW, and very large is 1 GW and above. 19 20 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power International Context Table B–1: Relative Size of International Markets Wind energy in China is still relatively new. Hence, these major plans and aspirations are all the more startling. In New MW New MW in New MW numerical terms, it is useful to note that the total global in 2006 2007 in 2008 installed capacity of wind energy is approximately 100 United States 2,454 5,244 8,358 GW and that the new global capacity in 2007 was 20 GW. China 1,347 3,304 6,300 In 2007 China was the world’s second largest market, Spain 1,587 3,522 1,609 whereas in 2006 it was the fifth largest. Table B–1 pro- Germany 2,233 1,667 1,665 vides some details of the global markets. India 1,840 1,575 1,800 Source: Global Wind Energy Council (2006, 2007, 2009). Different Development Approaches Although the policy statements above addressed just on- and offshore development, it is helpful to divide the will be the wind speeds available on the sites—and they proposed Chinese activities into three segments: are not yet well established. Proper assessment of the wind speeds, particularly offshore and in the intertidal 1. Onshore (WPB) zones, is vital for appropriate selection of the category of 2. Offshore sites to be developed. 3. Intertidal. Figure B–1 illustrates the geographic distribution of prior- The terms onshore and offshore are well understood. ity areas for WPB, intertidal, and offshore development in Intertidal requires some explanation. The intertidal cat- China. Published estimates of wind speeds in China have egory, which has not occurred elsewhere in the world, is been derived from fairly crude computational models.They the development of regions along the coast where there nevertheless give a broad overview of the resources. 6 is a large area inside the tidal range. It is not an extension Published estimates indicate that the wind speed offshore of the offshore activity; rather, it has characteristics of its increases from north to south. In the south, although the own. The soil conditions in these areas are likely to be mean wind speed may be higher, there is also the risk of “muddy. ” Hence, foundations may be difficult. There is a a typhoon; hence, the southernmost offshore sites are range of soil conditions along the shore, and proper char- not attractive. The likely areas for intertidal development acterization of them will be an important part of assess- are shown in Figure B–1. Some of the WPB locations ing the viability of the sites. There is no precedent for this are significantly closer to the loads than others, and it is type of development elsewhere that can be used directly assumed that these will be developed first. The optimal to help inform the development of these projects. There selection will, however, depend not only on distance to are, however, probably some similar locations elsewhere the load, but also on the electrical connections available. in the world, for example, in Gujarat in India where the Chinese experience could be applied if it is successful. If the requirement is to deliver energy at minimum cost to the eastern load, a comparison of cost of energy from These three types of development have different quali- the three sources must be made. This comparison is ties. The best wind regimes are those found inland in the shown in schematic form in Figure B–2. It is stressed northeast and northwest of the country. However, the that this figure does not present such a comparison; it main electrical load is in the east along the coast. The is simply an illustration. It is suggested that an action intertidal sites and the offshore sites are therefore closer should be taken to undertake a detailed investigation of to the load. The capital cost of construction of the off- the differences in cost of the various types of develop- shore sites and probably the intertidal sites will be higher ment and hence derive the optimum mix. than that of the WPB sites. The delivery of the energy from the WPB sites will, however, be much more costly than the delivery of the energy from the other two types, 6. Examples of such estimates are available at the UNEP/NREL since transmission over a very long distance is required. Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment Program Web site at An important determinant of the cost of energy delivered http://swera.unep.net. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 21 Figure B–1: Wind Power Base—Intertidal and Offshore Wind Farm Sites Heilongjiang Baicheng Dabancheng Xinjiang Inner Mongolia Yumen Huitengxile Zhangbei Jilin Hebei Beijing Liaoning Shanxi Qinghai Gansu Shaanxi Shadong Inter Tidal Henan Offshore Tibet Jiangsu Hubei Sichuan Shanghai Chongqing Anhui Hunan Zhejiang Guizhou Jiangxi Yunnan Medium-Deep Fujian Offshore Guangxi Guangdong Wind Power Bases (WPBs) Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Importance of Sustained Strong Figure B–2: Schematic Representation of Comparative Cost of the Three Sources of Political Commitment Wind-Generated Electricity Delivered to A prerequisite for a successful offshore wind market the Load is a good level of support from government. Such sup- port is important for renewables as a whole but, given 1 the relatively risky nature of offshore wind, it is particu- larly important in this area. This requirement, to a large 0.8 Transmission degree, is beyond the control of any particular industry O&M as the attitude of an administration will be shaped by Normalized cost 0.6 Infrastructure broader policy and strategic objectives. Turbines 0.4 Effective industrial coordination and lobbying can play an important role in specific regulatory issues, but in the 0.2 absence of genuine political ambition to deploy renew- able energy and specifically offshore wind, little prog- 0 ress can be made. The situation in the Netherlands best WPB Intertidal Offshore exemplifies negative experience in this regard, whereas political support for offshore wind in Denmark, Germany, Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. and the United Kingdom is considered strong. Offshore wind energy is more expensive than onshore An important question is therefore why China should wind energy and is almost certain to remain so. In some develop the more expensive offshore resource when crowded countries, for example, in northern Europe, off- it has plenty of good onshore sites. The answer lies in shore wind energy may be the only way in which very the total cost of energy, including the wind resource, the large-scale wind energy production can be introduced capital cost, and the transmission. 22 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power into the national energy mix. In other countries, such Parallel Development of the Three Segments as in southern Europe, the United States, and China, In order to optimize the exploitation of China’s wind poten- where onshore space is much more freely available, the tial, the key task, as described above, is to determine the onshore option is likely to remain the most competitive, relative cost from the three different types of develop- even at a very large scale. Even in crowded countries, it ment. Essentially it is necessary to balance good wind has been necessary to introduce specific measures for resource, low capital cost, and high transmission costs the encouragement of offshore wind to ensure that off- (the WPBs) against higher capital cost, probably poorer shore wind energy development is not simply left until wind resources, and lower transmission costs (offshore all the onshore capacity has been used up. Moreover, in and intertidal). In order to determine the minimum cost most European countries, the wind speeds offshore are of each approach and hence the optimum mix, consider- higher than the wind speeds found in the majority of the able detail will be needed about each one. It is therefore wind farm sites onshore. Hence, the improved resource necessary to develop all three strands in parallel—it does offshore helps to offset the additional capital costs asso- not make sense to explore them sequentially. Full-scale ciated with going offshore a little. In China it seems that exploitation may, however, be sequential. this characteristic is unlikely since there are plenty of very energetic onshore sites with a lot of space, and the argument of increased energy density will not hold up. Grid Because pure economic pressures are unlikely to be suf- The aspirations expressed in the 11th Five-Year Plan ficient to precipitate large-scale activity offshore, specific mean that large-scale grid reinforcement and extension political measures will be needed to encourage develop- are required. It has been assumed that funds will be ment. Offshore wind development requires both signifi- made available for such activity. Rigorous investigation cant capital and technical resources. In order to mobilize and substantial capital expenditure are needed to realize these two key ingredients, investors must have confi- these aspirations, and rapid deployment of resources will dence in the political commitment of the government. be needed to keep up with the installation of turbines. The targets and policies put in place must contain a clear, Wind Speed Assessment long-term commitment. Substantial industrial investment is needed to reduce the costs of offshore development. The importance of good wind speeds cannot be over- Without long-term commitment from the government, it emphasized. A change in annual mean wind speed from will be difficult to justify the capital investment needed, 6.5 m/s to 9 m/s produces twice as much energy. There and offshore wind will remain unnecessarily expensive or are WPB sites with mean wind speeds in the region of will not be developed at all. China appears to be ahead of 9 m/s. The intertidal values are not yet accurately known other countries in this respect, as shown in the introduc- but they are likely to be in the region of 7–7.5 m/s. Off- tory discussion. Gaining experience at a moderate scale shore speeds may be higher than intertidal. now will put China in a good position to develop large- scale projects when required—either in the immediate However undesirable it may be, all engineering problems future or a little later. Once large-enough Chinese domes- can be corrected through additional expenditure. Poor tic turbines are available and have been proven on land or wind resource assessment and energy estimation cannot. in near-shore applications, China will have the option to There should therefore be a general improvement in the omit the intermediate stage and move straight to large- quality and quantity of wind measurement assessment scale deployment. both on- and offshore. The huge investments envisaged can easily be undermined by poor performance resulting That commitment to offshore wind energy must be from inadequate wind speed assessments. clearly demonstrated in order to kickstart the industry. Offshore The Way Forward China is fortunate to have abundant wind resources and large amounts of land available to exploit it. Although This section of Part B summarizes some basic ques- useful lessons can be learned technically and institution- tions about the philosophy of wind energy exploitation ally from European experience, in resource terms it is in China. sensible to compare China not to any particular European country, since each country is so small, but to Europe as a whole or to the United States. Looking at Europe and Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 23 the United States, there has been little or no offshore and infrastructure will be delivered at government cost. development compared to the level of onshore activity. The approach described will likely lead to minimum cost Onshore development is and will always remain easier electricity generated from the wind farms. It will, how- than offshore. The capital cost of offshore development ever, require substantial capital cost expended by gov- is at least twice that of onshore. Offshore O&M costs are ernment or a government agency. Other approaches are, higher (perhaps three times) and accessibility, which is of course, available in which the cost of all aspects of the not a problem onshore, becomes a major issue. development are left to the market. Whatever approach is adopted, international experience has demonstrated It will be necessary to decide whether China will encour- time and time again that an effective incentive must age the participation of foreign investors in offshore encourage good operation, not rapid deployment. That wind. Offshore wind is an international business, albeit is, it should encourage megawatt-hours generated, not with the majority of important players located in Europe. megawatts installed. However, specific capabilities in project development and management and construction are not evenly distributed through the active markets. Significant benefits can be Demonstration Projects accrued through the opening of national markets to for- In the spirit of accelerating development and minimizing eign companies with the specific skills required to deliver mature production cost, it is suggested that China under- offshore wind projects. The prominence of Danish util- take offshore demonstration projects, provided that reli- ity, DONG, in the UK market is an example of how such able turbines are available for use that have been proven openness can accelerate deployment. Changes will have onshore. Once these demonstration projects have been to be made to the regulatory and commercial structure if completed, China could then leap over the other interme- foreign investors are to be attracted. At present Chinese diate steps and develop large-scale solutions. projects are not “bankable” in Western terms. Development of Chinese Turbines Rapid Deployment versus Reliable Turbines and Science Rapid deployment of offshore wind farms and WPBs will It is not recommended that China wait for the develop- be dangerous in terms of availability. Experience in Europe ment of Western offshore wind turbines. It is noted that has shown that turbine reliability can be improved much various Chinese manufacturers are frustrated by the low faster onshore than offshore and nothing additional is level of technology transfer that has been achieved for learned by experiencing these problems offshore for the onshore turbines. The same situation is likely to arise first time. The government must decide on its policy of offshore. If China wishes to be in a position to exploit rapid deployment versus effective deployment. What will its offshore potential, it must start the development of be gained by large numbers of unreliable turbines being the large turbines now. For offshore applications, and deployed either in the WPBs, or worse, offshore? Proven for the WPBs, it is vital that detailed scientific tasks be turbines are needed for both approaches. The severity of undertaken in parallel with the manufacture and instal- a problem when it occurs offshore is, of course, much lation. It has been assumed that development of a Chi- greater than when it occurs onshore. It is a mistake to nese technology base is an essential part of the process put in jeopardy the offshore potential by premature tur- and, if that is the case, then serious scientific investiga- bine deployment whereby the initial offshore wind farms tions and associated investment are required. The rapid look unnecessarily unreliable. There has been much criti- deployment of technology that is not understood and cism of the early offshore wind farms from wind energy cannot be improved by Chinese companies is not a ten- detractors that could have been avoided if deployment able approach. had been delayed. Turbines should be thoroughly dem- onstrated onshore and achieve a high level of reliability Given the huge Chinese market, considerable pressure before they are deployed offshore. should be applied to the manufacturers to develop tur- bines optimized for the Chinese conditions. This task Minimum-Cost Electricity— will require investment but will lead to improved perfor- mance and reduced cost. The philosophy should be Chi- Increased Government Expenditure nese designs for Chinese applications. It has been assumed that the goal is minimum-cost electricity. This assumption has resulted in the recom- mendation that a bidding process will be needed offshore and, in order to deliver minimum cost, much information Section B–3 Roadmap for Offshore Wind Power Development This section provides a roadmap for offshore and inter- The development of national markets has been highly tidal wind power development in China, and builds on varied in terms of structure and results. This is partly a international experience in wind power development.7 result of a lack of industry maturity, but perhaps more The recommendations provided in the roadmap draw on important are differences driven by national policy objec- lessons learned from international experience and sug- tives and existing legislative arrangements. This section gest a set of actions to allow the efficient promotion provides an overview of the historic development, cur- of offshore wind energy in China. The actions include rent status, and future prospects of the offshore wind regulatory issues, installation and construction issues, market in general. R&D, and industrial capacity. In each case, examples of experience are provided and then suggested actions A total of 1,240 MW of offshore wind farms are currently are identified. These various actions are also provided in operation around the world, with a further 704 MW in a summary graphical form—a roadmap for the vari- under construction at the time of writing. Figure B–3 pres- ous groups of actions listed below. It is anticipated that ents a breakdown of these totals by national market. if China follows this roadmap, it will avoid many of the problems that have already been encountered elsewhere With the exception of a small demonstration project in in the world in the initial steps toward commercial off- Japan, all offshore wind projects built to date or cur- shore wind energy activity. rently in construction are located in Europe, as shown in Figure B–4. Background on International Offshore wind projects constructed to date can be cate- Experience with Offshore Wind gorized into two groups corresponding to two sequential phases of industry development—R&D and demonstra- Before presenting the roadmap, some general back- tion. Today the first quasi-commercial projects are being ground information about the offshore wind industry contracted ready for construction over the coming years. is provided. This industry is still relatively new even in As evidenced by Figure B–5, this industry is currently the countries where there has been significant action. undergoing a period of rapid growth. The majority of con- To date the developments have been limited to northern struction is taking place in the United Kingdom. Europe, with major activity in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Other active countries are the Netherlands and From R&D to Demonstration Sweden. The first offshore deployment of a wind turbine took place at Nogersund, Sweden, in 1990. Over the next decade, 7. Extensive coverage of international experience in offshore wind a series of R&D deployments followed in Denmark, power development is available in the report on Regulatory Review Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom that of Offshore Wind in Five European Countries, which was issued as a were largely publicly funded with significant academic companion to this publication. This publication builds on the lessons and analysis recorded in that report. involvement. This phase ended perhaps in 2002 with the 25 26 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Figure B–3: World Offshore Wind Installed Capacity, June 2008 In Operation Under Construction United Kingdom 404 MW, 33% United Kingdom 464 MW, 66% Denmark 423 MW, 33% Netherlands 247 MW, 20% Denmark 209 MW, 30% Germany Ireland 7 MW, 1% Sweden 25 MW, 2% Belgium 133 MW, 30 MW, 4% 11% Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. construction of the 160 MW Horns Rev offshore wind A False Dawn project, which constituted a major ramp-up in the scale Following what may be described as the “Danish surge” of deployment, with the previous largest offshore project in the early years of this decade, consisting of the dem- being 40 MW. onstration projects at Horns Rev and Nysted, the growth rate of the industry slowed substantially for the three- The demonstration phase has continued since then, year period from 2004 to 2006, with just one project com- with a significant further deployment in Denmark pleted in each of these years—all in the United Kingdom (Nysted—166 MW) followed by several projects in the (Scroby Sands, Kentish Flats, and Barrow). Since then, United Kingdom. These demonstration projects can be construction momentum has recovered thanks largely to categorized as being funded primarily commercially with renewed activity in the Netherlands and Sweden, which some level of capital and revenue support from govern- has augmented ongoing efforts in the United Kingdom. ment. Figure B–5 clearly shows the transition between these phases in 1999 to 2001. It is noteworthy that, despite the strong growth rate cur- rently exhibited, the offshore wind industry was widely Figure B–4:  Location of European Offshore anticipated to deliver substantially greater installed Wind Projects, June 2008 capacities in the years 2004–06. As recently as 2005, the total installed capacity for offshore wind by the end of 2007 was predicted by BTM Consult, a leading industry analyst, to be 3.6 GW, whereas the actual total was only about one-third of this figure. There are three main reasons for this false dawn: 1. With the benefit of hindsight, offshore growth pro- jections since 2000 have been optimistic primarily because of an overestimation of learning effects and associated cost reductions. 2. Since the early demonstration projects, costs have in fact increased, which has meant that many mar- ginally economic sites have become infeasible under Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. current conditions. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 27 Figure B–5: Cumulative Offshore Wind Capacity Since 1990 Demonstration 1,500 R&D 1,250 Demonstration Dominated Cumulative Installed Capacity (MW) R & D Dominated 1,000 750 500 250 0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. 3. Wind turbine manufacturers have stopped offering EPC contract prices were offered. Be it the result Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC)8 con- of a deliberate policy of “loss-leading” or inadver- tracts for offshore wind farms, forcing developers to tent cost optimism, the principal contractors unlikely take on more technical and commercial risks within turned a profit on these early contracts. This result a multicontract framework, and offshore contractors has subsequently led to somewhat of a backlash— have yet to step in to fill this void. The latter point is with contractors readjusting tender prices to ensure related to the mixed early project experience, which profit margins are met. is discussed further below and has led to the lengthy 2. Wind turbine market. Since 2005 there has been a sig- delay of many of the more advanced offshore wind nificant rise in turbine prices for both onshore and off- projects while contracts were renegotiated. shore wind projects. This has been to a large extent the result of supply not keeping up with demand, leading to low competition. In particular, shortages Rising Costs of key wind turbine subcomponents, such as gears, Figure B–6, based on published cost data, illustrates the large bearings, transformers, castings, forgings, and unanticipated upward trend in offshore project capital carbon fiber, have limited the supply capacity growth costs. rate in the face of steeply increasing demand. 3. Offshore wind turbine market. Currently, the market for There are four principal reasons for this trend: offshore wind turbines is largely coincident with that for onshore projects in terms of both products and 1. High early competition and losses. The initial high players. Given the additional risks associated with degree of optimism in the future for offshore wind supplying machines offshore and the high demand led to fierce competition between turbine manu- for turbines onshore, manufacturers currently have facturers and installation contractors for the early a limited incentive to bid competitively for supply demonstration phase projects. In an attempt to contracts to offshore wind projects. If the choice is establish a good market position, optimistically low between 250 MW in the North Sea and Texas, the choice of Texas is clear! 8. Engineering Procurement Construction: Used to imply a single point of responsibility to deliver a turnkey project. 28 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Figure B–6: Published Capital Costs for Offshore Wind Projects 4.0 Greater Gabbard 3.5 Nordergründe Rhyl Flats 3.0 Princess Amalia (Q7) Alpha Ventus Baltic I 2.5 Project CAPEX �M/MW) Lely LID Horns Rev II Vindeby Tuno Knob North Hoyle Barrow 2.0 Bockstigen Egmond Horns Rev Robin Rigg Scroby Sands Blyth Nysted Kentish FlatsLillgrund 1.5 Utgrunden Middlegrundden Irene Vorrink Yttre Stengrund Samsø 1.0 Operational Under construction Contracted 0.5 Bubble area represents capacity of wind farm 0.0 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. 4. Balance of plant (BOP)9 supply chains. Certain balance- The Future—Sink or Swim of-plant items and equipment required for offshore Following the first two phases of industry development wind projects are currently in short supply. Of par- outlined above (R&D and demonstration-dominated), it ticular note are installation vessels, subsea cables, can be seen that a third phase is emerging that may be and project transformers. This shortage has led to termed as commercial expansion. Such projects will be low competition and high prices in specific parts of those that benefit from some form of revenue support, the BOP supply chain. but are not eligible for capital support. The UK Round 2 and German Pilot Projects may be considered the first to All of these causes may be mitigated over the next few be built in this third phase, although it is notable that both years through market forces redressing imbalances in are likely to be subject to increased levels of revenue the supply chain and, of course, now the “credit crunch. ” support in the absence of the anticipated downward cost In addition, a true bifurcation in wind turbine design is trend for offshore wind technology, so that in fact, this likely to be required, which will result in offshore-specific transition is perhaps somewhat arbitrary. A more notable products and, to a greater or lesser extent, supply chains. difference between Phase 2 (demonstration) and Phase This will allow the establishment of a separate offshore 3 (commercial) projects is likely to be their scale, with the wind market, which is not subject to overwhelming sup- latter typically reaching an installed capacity of several ply competition from the onshore wind industry. Both of hundred megawatts. these mitigating factors are likely to require additional governmental support if they are to gain enough momen- New markets for offshore wind are likely to reach a level tum to achieve a substantive impact. It is clear that the of commercial viability and regulatory maturity within supply constraints took place before there was any sub- the next decade. In Europe, these are likely to include stantial manufacturing capacity in China. France and Spain, where recent legislative and policy changes indicate some degree of potential for significant 9. Balance of plant: Project elements other than the turbine. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 29 deployment. Beyond Europe, prospects are currently unclear, although there has been significant, albeit Figure B–7: Breakdown of Offshore Wind nascent or sporadic, offshore wind project development Farm Capital Costs activity in the United States, Canada, Korea, Taiwan, and China as evidenced by this report. However, unless there Surveying and construction is substantial activity in China, it is considered likely that management the vast majority of new offshore wind projects to come 4% Insurance online in the next decade will be built in Europe, with Installation of 2% electrical systems the majority of these being established in UK or German 6% waters. Turbines and Installation of ancillaries turbine support 51% Another possibility in the coming years is the reemer- structures gence of EPC contracting with the entrance of specialist 9% contractors prepared to target project management risk as a means of generating profit. All other things being Offshore electrical systems equal, this is likely to have the effect of increasing project 9% prices as interface and management risk is passed from owner to contractor. However, this may enable owners to realize their offshore project pipeline more quickly, since Support structures 19% they will not have to manage such risks in-house. The potential is good for reduction in project costs Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. through technical innovation. Several areas may be tar- geted on this front, including wind turbine design and installation methods. Some evidence of the former has surfaced with the emergence of a limited number of new Figure B–8 shows the range of foundation options that offshore-specific wind turbine designs and manufactur- are available for offshore wind farms. ers. In addition, technology demonstration projects, such as Beatrice in the United Kingdom and Alpha Ventus in Turbines Germany, for deeper-water development are designed to accelerate the deployment of new approaches to design Turbines that can be used for an offshore wind farm are and installation and have the potential to make a signifi- the same as those used for an onshore wind farm. They cant contribution in this regard. must be marinized, but otherwise the principle of opera- tion is unaltered. In practice, however, the economics Finally, it is anticipated that an increased level of competi- dictate that they should be larger in order to reduce infra- tion will develop within certain parts of the project supply structure cost. The infrastructure cost is a much larger chain with new entrants and equipment coming online as proportion of the total capital cost for an offshore wind the industry gathers momentum. This would only happen farm than for an onshore wind farm. Figure B–7 shows if a consistent market is developed that is free from the the cost breakdown for an offshore wind farm. For an stop-start characteristics that have existed to date. onshore wind farm, the turbine is typically 75 percent of the total capital cost. Technical Parameters for Offshore Foundations Wind Farms Table B–2 provides a list of operational wind farms and This section provides an overview of technical consid- the foundation solutions that have been used in each. It erations involved in the development, construction, and is clear that in reasonably shallow water (<20 m) mono- installation of offshore wind farms. A detailed description piles have been the most popular option. However, as of the construction of offshore wind farms is provided in the depth increases, it is likely that other solutions will be Annex B–1. Figure B–7 illustrates the breakdown of capi- adopted, as shown schematically in Figure B–8. tal costs for developing a typical offshore wind farm. Water depth and seabed conditions are the two most The same does not apply to the foundations of the important parameters for defining the appropriate foun- turbines. dation. Distance offshore does not play a role in the 30 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Table B–2: Offshore Foundation Choices Date of Distance from No of Water Location Commissioning Shore (km) turbines Turbine type & rating depth (m) Foundation type Vindeby, Denmark 1991 1.5 > 3.0 11 Bonus 450 kW 2.5 > 5 Concrete gravity Lely, Netherlands 1994 1 4 Nedwind 500 kW Steel monopile Tuno Knob, Denmark 1995 6 10 Vestas 500 kW 3>5 Concrete gravity Dronten, Netherlands 1997 0.4 28 Nordtank 600 kW 5 Steel monopile Bockstigen, Sweden 1998 4 5 Wind World 500 kW 6 Steel monopile Utgrunden, Sweden 2000 8 > 12.5 7 Enron Wind 1,500 kW 7.2 > 10 Steel monopile Blyth, United Kingdom 2000 0.5 2 Vestas 1,800 & 2,000 kW 7.5 Steel monopile Middlegrunden, Sweden 2000 2 20 Bonus 2,000 kW 2>5 Concrete gravity Yttre Stengrund Sweden 2001 6 5 Neg Micon 2,000 kW 9 Steel monopile Horns Rev, Denmark 2001 17 80 Vestas 2,000 kW 6.5 > 13.5 Steel monopile North Hoyle, 2003 7>8 30 Vestas 2,000 kW 10 > 15 Steel monopile United Kingdom Nysted, Denmark 2004 12 72 Bonus 2.3 MW 10 Concrete gravity Arklow Bank, Ireland 2004 14 7 GE 3.6 MW 5 > 8.5 Steel monopile Scroby Sands, 2004 2.5 30 Vestas 2 MW 4 > 12 Steel monopile United Kingdom Kentish Flats, United 2005 12 30 Vestas 3 MW 5 Steel monopile Kingdom Barrow , United Kingdom 2006 8 30 Vestas 3 MW 20 Steel monopile OWEZ, Netherlands 2006 10–18 36 Vestas V90 22 Steel monopile Beatrice , United 2007 25 2 REpower 5M 45 Quadropod Kingdom Burbo Bank, United 2007 6 25 Siemens 3.6 8 Steel monopile Kingdom Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. foundation design, but it has an important influence on date, there is no German offshore wind farm, but many the electrical design. The transmission system needed are planned. The reason for this difference of approach to take the energy from the farm to the onshore grid is largely the location of Germany’s offshore nature con- connection can be a major part of the capital cost. It is servation areas. The Wattensee (a national park), which therefore interesting to consider the range of these two follows the North German coastline, has precluded con- parameters for the wind farms that are being considered struction near to shore. by the various European countries. Figure B–9 plots all the operating and the planned offshore wind farms in terms of water depth and distance to shore. It is clear that there Substations are quite strong national differences. For example, the Sometimes the substation is located onshore and some- UK wind farms tend to be in shallower water, closer to times it is located at the wind farm site. For larger wind shore, and the German ones are further offshore and are farms and for wind farms that are far offshore, the sub- likely to be in deeper water. It should be noted that, to stations are likely to be located at the wind farm. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 31 Figure B–8: Foundation Options Increasing water depth Gravity Monopile Multipod Jacket Suction bucket Floating • Offshore foundation is determined by the seabed condition and the water depth. • Currently gravity and monopile are the most frequently used options. Source: Presentation by Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Figure B–9: Water Depth and Distance Offshore of European Offshore Wind Farms 50 Belgium 45 Germany 40 Denmark 35 Spain Maximum depth 30 France 25 Ireland 20 Netherlands 15 Sweden 10 United Kingdom 5 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Distance to shore Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. 32 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Vessels for Construction, Installation, developers in that market from proceeding quickly with and O&M sanctioned sites. Instability in the incentive framework in the Netherlands has been identified as a major issue Much effort has been devoted to the development of in that national market. Proposed reforms to the incen- special vessels for the installation of the turbines and the tive regime in the United Kingdom can be considered as foundations. It is notable that China has been a major unsettling for renewable energy in general, but for off- supplier of these special vessels. shore wind, the additional revenue support it will create has to be viewed as positive for that technology. Offshore Availability of wind farms is of great importance whether wind energy requires substantial and long-term invest- on- or offshore. Onshore, high availability is regularly ment and cannot develop in a regulatory or commercial achieved in the West, but only through regular attendance regime in which the rules are constantly changing. Any at the sites. For the present generation of turbines, good non-Chinese investors will be particularly sensitive to availability is therefore directly related to good accessibil- this potential problem, but it will also affect the Chinese ity. A minor fault offshore, which would scarcely be noted domestic investors. onshore, can therefore become a major problem simply because of poor access. In recent years considerable Repeated reform of regulations can be avoided if they R&D resource has been focused on the development of are well drafted and well consulted in the first instance. offshore access methods in order to allow maintenance New markets for offshore wind should draw heavily teams to attend faulted turbines. on experience in other countries. A stable regulatory regime engenders higher investor confidence. Repeated changes in the regulatory regime have been experienced The Roadmap in all of the active countries and have materially slowed the development of the industry. Appropriate regulatory The proposed roadmap for the development of offshore approaches are suggested elsewhere in this section. wind is described below. The tasks are divided into four Decisions should be taken and a consistent set of rules groups: established for the long term. Long-term and consistent commitment should be made to engender the industrial 1. Group A: Institutional Tasks commitment that is required to develop this industry. 2. Group B: Preparatory Tasks 3. Group C: Demonstration A.1: Establish Appropriate Legislative Frameworks 4. Group D: Underlying Research and Development. Given the relative novelty of offshore wind technology, certain areas of the regulatory regime for most of the An overall timeline for the tasks is provided in Figure B–10. national markets examined are considered to be inappro- Some actions do not fit logically on such a timeline. priate. This theme is of particular importance in the area of consenting, where in many cases, existing legislation In each subsection that follows, the tasks are identi- has had to be utilized that was designed to regulate other fied based on experience elsewhere and for each of the activities, such as oil and gas exploitation. This approach Groups B, C, and D a separate roadmap illustration is can lead to a complex and uncertain consenting route provided. that can add to project costs, delays, and potential fail- ures. Where existing legislation is a significant barrier to offshore wind deployment, legal reform is necessary. Group A: Institutional Tasks In some countries there has been much debate over Guiding Principle: Ensuring and Maintaining Policy whether, from a regulatory standpoint, an offshore wind and Regulatory Stability farm is an oil and gas platform, a lighthouse, a ship, or a Changes to government policy and the regulatory harbor in order to determine the appropriate legal frame- regime for offshore wind can cause a loss of financial work. There has also been some debate about whether confidence, delaying investment decisions and, conse- the projects should be covered by electricity production quently, deployment. Experience in Denmark following legislation or shipping/transport legislation. Clear deci- the cancellation of four planned offshore wind farms in sions about the appropriate legal framework in advance of 2002 can be said to have damaged the confidence of any substantial projects are vital. Although this approach Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 33 Figure B–10: Summary of Timeline of Actions Summary timeline of actions Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Future A–1: Establish appropriate legislative framework A–2: Set up industry coordination A–3a: Grid access announcement Group A A–3b: Build offshore grid connections Institutional tasks A–3c: Grid code development A–4: Strategic spatial planning A–5: Define a single authority A–6: Determine appropriate incentive scene B–1: Systematic site selection Group B Preparatory tasks B–2: Systematic wind assessment C–1: Initial rapid demonstration Group C Demonstration C–2: Commercial demonstration Group D Research and D: Research and development tasks (see Figure B–16) Development Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. would be ideal, the actual approach to date has been to The government should construct an appropriate leg- adapt offshore oil and gas and shipping legislation to pro- islative framework that is targeted specifically at the vide the starting point for new wind-specific legislation. promotion of offshore wind (although it might be sen- sible, at the same time, to consider the other marine There is a strong argument for considering this matter on renewables, such as wave and tidal devices). These a large scale. In Europe it has initially been addressed on wind projects are set to be a major part of the off- a national basis, but efforts are now being made to use a shore economy and hence, for the long term, it is not European-wide approach. The same arguments will apply sensible to try to fit them into existing legislation, but in China and a national rather than a provincial approach rather to create the appropriate legislation directly. For may be preferable provided, of course, that it is positive. short-term demonstration projects, a more pragmatic approach may be required. 34 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power A.2: Effective Industry Coordination In Denmark this approach has led to relatively easy grid Offshore wind development can be stifled in the absence connection in a small country used to a high level of cen- of effective industry coordination. In the Netherlands, tral control. In the early stages of offshore wind develop- the wind lobby has been unable effectively to create ment this model looks to be the right one to follow. The an incentive for the government to make the changes latest approach in the United Kingdom is to set up an necessary to accelerate offshore wind deployment. This offshore TSO that will build the grid and will be able to has been caused in part by the lack of strong and influ- operate it on a commercial basis but with a limit placed ential industry associations that should be the primary on its financial rate of return. This operator may be the lobbying vehicle for industry. This result is contrasted national operator or it may be another commercial body. with experience in Denmark, where a united, and coordi- It must be properly funded and provided with adequate nated industry body has effectively lobbied government authority so that it promotes rather than delays instal- to bring about the development programs and regularity lation. It may be that, with strong utility involvement in reforms necessary for a successful offshore wind indus- offshore wind farm development, some developers will try. In the UK, sites suggested for offshore development find it more attractive to be allowed to build and own the by the government have not been coincident with those grid. There is an important commercial debate about the that the commercial developers have identified. A con- technical specifications of these grids: Should they be of certed dialogue between the various parties is required a high-redundancy design or should they be of minimum for optimum results. capital cost? If central provision is followed, a very clear specification of the grid will be required so that the devel- The development of a strong, united, and influential oper may make a clear assessment of its production risk. industry voice provides the coordination necessary to Alternatively, the interconnection agreement between deliver a detailed and constructive input to government the project and the grid operator must include “take-or- policy on and regulation of offshore wind deployment. pay” provisions. A consultative group made up of the key stakeholders wishing to promote the offshore wind industry should There are now some preliminary steps being taken be formed and used to provide detailed regulatory toward the development of a “super grid” specifically input. Such a group should include turbine manufac- for the development of European-wide exploitation of turers, wind farm developers, grid operators, offshore offshore wind energy. Given the large number of differ- infrastructure providers, vessel owners, fabrication ent regulatory regimes that are involved in this work, it yards, consulting engineers, and certification agencies. will make only slow progress. China could adopt the prin- Input can then be provided to the legislative procedure ciple of a super grid and promote a Chinese equivalent that will ensure that a viable process is developed. on a fast track. Also, given the large-scale aspirations of the Chinese wind strategy, such an approach appears A.3: Grid Access attractive, and is also formally the standard approach for Grid access is a significant barrier to deployment in all onshore projects, although in practice the grid connec- of the national markets considered. While the detailed tions are often provided too slowly for the satisfaction of reasons for this differ, a general conclusion is that, the commercial developers. where the regulation of grid infrastructure is not aligned to national policy objectives with respect to renewable Action A–3a: Grid access announcement energy, delays in offshore wind deployment are likely. A Access to the grid is a significant barrier to offshore good example of this can be found in the United King- wind energy, unless its regulation is aligned with dom, where the grid regulator prioritizes protection of renewable energy policy objectives, and responsibility consumer rights and is tasked to minimize cost over the for costs and for construction are clearly delineated at delivery of renewable energy for provision of grid con- an early stage. For countries in which there is a strong nection to offshore wind farms. Various models have central approach to regulation, the central provision of emerged. Central supply of a grid connection has been the grid connection as part of the granting of a license adopted in Germany and Denmark. In these countries for the development of the wind farms has proved the supply of the grid is part of the license for the devel- successful. The Chinese government should announce opment of a wind farm. The tariffs are set for delivery its intention to provide the grid connections free of at the grid connection point that is at the project site. charge. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 35 Action A–3b: Construction of offshore grid guidelines established in the European Union for Stra- connections tegic Environmental Assessment (SEA) but should try To accelerate the development of offshore wind and to to accelerate the process. The slow execution of the avoid duplication of effort and to encourage optimum SEAs in the European Union has hindered the devel- planning, it is suggested that an offshore wind energy opment of the offshore wind siting. Clear strategic grid be planned and built by the central government, guidance is required to ensure that the proposed sites and the connections to the wind farms should be meet all the physical planning requirements. offered at the wind farm level. Alternatively, the exist- ing grid company’s authority can be extended offshore. A.5: Establish a Single Authority It may be appropriate to allow a competent third party Simplification of the regulatory regime for offshore wind to provide the connection, but it must be reliable in provides more clarity for project developers and confi- both operation and delivery, and the grid must be free dence for potential investors. The channeling of respon- of charge to the wind farm developer. The grid company sibility for the administration of offshore wind through a should provide the connection at the wind farm volt- central agency offers the opportunity for a more efficient age. The grid company should include take-or-pay pro- system through the reduction of conflict and alignment visions in the interconnection agreement. The Chinese of strategic policy objectives. Of the national markets government is advised to consider the development of reviewed, only Denmark has created such a system, an offshore grid intended especially for the develop- and it has done so perhaps at the expense of industrial ment of large-scale offshore wind developments along control over deployment rates and the location of future the lines being discussed in the European Union. sites. Lack of such control seems to be a small price to pay for the rapid and efficient deployment that has Action A–3c: Grid code development resulted. The Danish model is an effective framework to Incorrect or incomplete understanding of the techni- follow in China. cal grid connection requirements has caused unneces- sary delay and commercial risk. A clear grid code for In Denmark, the “one-stop shop” approach has been offshore wind farm connections should be developed taken to the extreme, with a single government agency in by the State Grid Corporation and other stakeholders control of virtually all aspects of offshore wind regulation. as necessary. The same grid code can be used for the More modest success has been achieved in the United WPBs. Kingdom, where a central coordinating body deals with the majority of the required consents. Figures B–13 and Further detail on the recommended approach for grid B–14 show the system adopted by Denmark and the sys- connection and development is available under Task tem adopted by the United Kingdom. These figures dem- A.6 below. onstrate graphically how the appointment of the Danish Energy Agency to act as a single authority greatly simpli- A.4: Strategic Spatial Planning fied the Danish approach. It is important to note the loca- Long-term planning for the future use of the marine envi- tion of the “developer” in each of these two diagrams. ronment at a national level can play an important role in Under the Danish system (Figure B–11), the developer is avoiding conflicts with various user groups while meeting fed information, and under the UK system (Figure B–12), policy objectives on energy. This route has been adopted the Developer must seek such information. to the fullest extent in Denmark and to a lesser degree in the United Kingdom and Germany. Such an approach is In every country there are many uncoordinated bodies also a mechanism for avoiding conflicts between various with responsibility for and interest in offshore activity. If it sites and allow for economic grid integration of signifi- is possible to provide a single provincial or even national cant wind capacity. To some degree, the European Union authority, this will certainly accelerate development. The Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment will establishment of such an authority that is able to issue enforce this approach (for EU states). permits and provide licenses for the development of off- shore projects is ideal. The establishment of a body that Long-term strategic planning for the future use of off- at least provides a central database of information about shore regions can improve the prospects for offshore the different bodies and authorities that have an inter- wind deployment through the avoidance of potential est in the offshore matters is vital. Simple determination stakeholder conflicts and improvement in grid con- of who these bodies are and what their authority is has nection efficiency. China should follow the general been a major cause of delay and complication in the vari- ous active countries. 36 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Figure B–11: The Danish System Concession Strategic planning Consenting Stakeholders Developer DEA Grid Eltra connection Incentives Government policy Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Figure B–12: The UK System Civil aviation ORCU MCEU Stakeholder Countryside agency English DTI/ DfT Defra heritage DBERR Consenting Health and safety exec. Concession Defense District council Developer Crown Estate etc. Power Grid O TSO sale connection f Incentives g Utility e DNO m ROC trading LEC offtake DTI/DBERR Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Simplification of regulation provides the necessary clarity strategic objectives. Ideally, for a substantial program, a and confidence to industry to move forward with devel- single agency should be established that is able to pro- opment of offshore wind. Significant efficiency gains can vide licenses and permits for the development of off- also be made through the administration of the regula- shore wind farms. A more modest program will rely upon tory regime by a single government agency through the existing agencies. As a lesser alternative, a single agency mitigation of user conflicts and alignment of government should be charged with providing a central database that Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 37 Figure B–13: Roadmap for Preparatory Tasks Group B: Preparatory Tasks Action B–1 High-level site investigation Create master GIS Initiate systematic wind speed assessment using any existing data: Land-based extrapolated offshore Computational estimation Establish initial Existing oil and gas platform data estimates of wind speed Assemble geotechnical and bathymetric conditions Locate appropriate onshore grid Assemble all connection points and associated data in GIS Action B–2 free capacity on the grid Stakeholder consultation Establish a database including: Establish preferred Water depth locations for Wave height offshore wind farms Conflicting use Environmental constraints Action B–3 Currents Consult Detailed site investigations stakeholders Identify conflicting uses: Fishing Instrument proposed Agree on sites with Shipping proposed sites anemometry masts Military Oil and gas Mineral extraction Dredging Make continuous Provide Communications measurements for detailed Aircraft radar at least one year description Weather radar of the National parks and other proposed sites Undertake initial environmental constraints geotechnical and bathymetric surveys Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. contains a definitive list of all the interested agencies. The fixed tariff approach adopted in Denmark, Germany, The establishment of this central database should be a and the Netherlands has the virtues of simplicity and first step toward the establishment of a single executive predictability—mitigating risks associated with revenue authority. security. Disadvantages include the sensitivity of deploy- ment rates to the exact level of the tariff, since once the A.6: Determine Appropriate Incentive Scheme tariff has been fixed, any change in capital cost will affect In broad terms, two systems of revenue support for off- the viability of individual projects, resulting in possible shore wind energy have been deployed to date, each cancellation. Hence, there is no self-correcting mecha- with the stated aim of encouraging deployment of gen- nism for achieving government targets and no potential erating capacity. One is the provision of a fixed tariff, and for increasing costs to the consumer through the sub- the other is certificate trading. sidy of uneconomic sites. A variation on the theme of 38 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power the fixed tariff has also been adopted where a fixed tar- resource. The grid should be built to connect the various iff is offered, but under a competitive bidding approach. proposed sites (see Action B–1) either to one another The danger of the bidding approach is that the winning if they are close by or to the shore if they are spread projects then fail to deliver them either because they out. The grid construction can be undertaken in parallel have been too aggressive in their bids or the costs have with the site developments and hence can be progres- risen unexpectedly. Such an approach must therefore be sive. The grid should supply connection to the individual accompanied by a careful vetting process and also by wind farms in the form of a substation with appropriate a substantial financial penalty for failure to deliver. This step-up transformer. A separate study should be under- approach looks likely to be adopted by the Spanish gov- taken to determine whether the appropriate technical ernment in its initial scheme for offshore wind. solution is transmission to shore at wind farm voltage or at a higher voltage. The optimum solution will depend A system of tradable renewable energy certificates with on site capacity and distance to shore. The initial grid an annually increasing quota, as adopted in the United should provide a direct connection to the shore for the Kingdom, has the advantage of a self-correcting link to most promising of the proposed sites. The offshore grid government targets and in theory the deployment of will then develop in parallel with the offshore wind farm the most economic projects, providing value to the con- developments. Based on the experience with offshore sumer. The principal disadvantages of such a system are wind energy in Europe, a bidding process is suggested its complexity and exposure of project revenues to a fluc- as outlined below. tuating market. In addition, as has been experienced in the United Kingdom, nondifferentiated support can lead A bidding process should be adopted in which the bid- to the stalling of a more expensive technology such as ders are provided with the following: offshore wind and unreasonably high returns for cheaper renewables such as onshore wind, where a restriction • The location and details of the proposed sites. The on the deployment volume of the latter exists. This prob- offer of the proposed sites will indicate that there is lem can be dealt with, at least to some degree, through no strategic objection to the use of these sites for differentiating the value of certificates depending on the offshore wind farm development. technology, although it is suggested that this devalues • Wind data for the proposed sites collected on the the market virtues of the system outlined above. The onsite masts for at least one year. The data will be establishment of separate targets for offshore wind is provided in both raw and processed form. These the first stage in ensuring that the offshore potential is data will be provided in good faith, but will carry no developed in parallel with the onshore resource but if a guarantee of accuracy. market approach is followed the market must also make • Wave and tidal data as collected by the on-site mast. this distinction. This goal is likely to be achieved in the These data will be provided in good faith, but will United Kingdom by offering 1.5 ROCs for every mega- carry no guarantee of accuracy. watt-hour generated offshore compared with one ROC • A Strategic Environmental Assessment that indi- for the same energy onshore. The ROC is essentially a cates that there are no identified environmental tradable green credit as explained elsewhere in the main obstacles and that there is a presumption in favor of report. granting a permit. • A guarantee of connection of the proposed site to the Experience has shown that both systems can work, land-based grid through the offshore grid together although on balance a feed-in tariff is thought to offer with a definite timetable for connection containing a a more reliable instrument for encouraging deployment date certain. because of the simplicity and long-term certainty of the • A detailed technical specification of the grid to be system. built and a functional technical specification of the wind farm to be connected. Given the variety of incentive schemes that have been • A draft interconnection agreement that contains a attempted in Europe and their limited degree of success, take-or-pay provision to mitigate the risk of failure to it is instructive to consider whether any of the schemes provide the grid connection and to provide a clear that have been adopted elsewhere have been truly level of guaranteed connection. effective. • A draft power purchase agreement (PPA) for at least a 20-year term. China should design and build an offshore grid appro- • A statement that the metering will be at the wind priate for full-scale exploitation of its offshore wind farm voltage. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 39 • An undertaking that the bidder, if successful, will be identified for the construction and operation of the have the exclusive right to exploit the proposed site offshore grid. There is likely to be commercial interest or a parcel of it to be determined in advance of the in the construction of such a grid if the grid operator is bidding process. allowed to charge a small margin above what is con- • A list of qualifying requirements for the bidder or ventionally allowed for the regulated returns of such an the bidder’s consortium that is able to demonstrate investment. Commercial arrangements could be entered its financial technical capability of executing the into in the form of a “use-of-system” charge. Experience project. elsewhere, when such an approach has been suggested, • Minimum performance requirements expressed as shows that if there is adequate confidence in the mar- minimum annual energy per megawatt installed and ket as a whole, companies would be prepared to enter minimum availability of the plant. into such an agreement and that the construction and • Default definitions and requirements. operation of the grid could be undertaken as a third- party exercise. It should be stressed that this has not yet The bidders will be entitled, during a two-year window, to been done anywhere; it is only a matter of conjecture. make any further investigations that they deem appropri- It will not, however, be possible to benefit from such an ate. For example, they may make their own wind mea- approach until the offshore development is set in motion surements and their own geotechnical investigations. and confidence has been gained in it. They will also determine that their construction and operation methodology does not contravene the envi- A.7: Achieving Scale ronmental assumptions that have been used in the initial China has large-scale aspirations for wind energy in gen- assessment of the proposed site. eral and, although the particular goals for offshore wind have yet to be identified, presumably for offshore wind In response the bidders will provide the following: energy as well. To date the European efforts can be con- sidered as first steps toward commercial exploitation of • An energy-only price it requires in order to develop offshore wind, but they are really only adjuncts to the and operate the site for a minimum of 20 years main effort of onshore wind development. Little thought • An estimate of the capital cost of the project, an esti- has yet been given to the way in which true scale can be mate of the energy yield expected from the project, achieved in Europe. and an estimate of the annual O&M cost to operate it together with supporting data for these values In order to achieve scale, It is suggested that China • A bid bond for 1 percent of the capital cost, which undertake the demonstration projects as described will be returned if the bidder is unsuccessful below but, provided that reliable domestic turbines are • Proof that the bidder is qualified to bid. available for use that have been proven onshore, it then leap over the other intermediate steps and attempt an Based on the submissions received, the government immediate large-scale solution. may accept or reject the bidders and will, provided the bids have qualified, accept the lowest bidder. The suc- cessful bidder will then be required to submit a further Group B: Preparatory Tasks bond for an additional 1 percent of the capital cost that A schematic presentation of the Group B preparatory will be returned on commissioning of the project on a tasks is shown in Figure B–13. timescale to be agreed. A potential problem with this approach is failure of the successful bidder to deliver the B.1 Systematic Site Selection project. Care must therefore be taken to ensure that the The award of concessionary rights for the development bonds required are adequate to ensure performance. of an offshore wind project site can lead to slow build rates if the award is made to an inappropriate party or The approach described above is believed to lead to mini- the site itself is unviable (economically or environmen- mum cost electricity generated from the wind farms. It tally). Early experience in the United Kingdom has led will, however, require substantial capital cost expended to some projects being delayed, or even abandoned, by the government or a government agency. because of unforeseen techno-economic or environ- mental “showstoppers” discovered after the site award. Once the basic framework of the offshore wind indus- This danger can be avoided through early strategic plan- try is established and there are clear and credible goals ning work to identify appropriate development regions. set for its development, commercial opportunities will In Germany, the vast majority of development work 40 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power implemented to date has been led by small independent assessment will be to provide site locations that are companies. Since these organizations do not have the very likely to be suitable for offshore wind farm devel- financial strength to construct the projects and may not opment, so that time and funds will not be wasted by have invested sufficiently during the development phase developers in the assessment of sites that are either to mitigate key technical risks, these projects are likely strategically or environmentally unsuitable. to be sold to larger players, delaying project deployment. It should be noted however, that Garrad Hassan and A detailed study must be undertaken to provide a Partners Limited considers a mix of small “nimble” com- layer within the GIS that charts all the competing com- panies and major public utilities to be healthy for any par- mercial and strategic activities in the offshore waters, ticular national market and the regulatory regime should such as fishing, shipping, defense, oil and gas, mineral allow for such a mix. Offshore site investigation is at least extraction, and communications. two orders of magnitude more expensive than onshore investigation. Hence, there is a clear advantage of initial Existing data that describe the geotechnical and bathy- site identification and prequalification being undertaken metric conditions should be assembled into another centrally. In the United Kingdom, where site selection is layer of the GIS. Site investigations are further dis- of a competitive nature, there are examples of two US$1 cussed in Annex B–2. million meteorological masts being erected within a few kilometers of one another by competing developers with The environmental characteristics of the potential sites a commensurate waste of resource. Experience has also will be provided in an additional layer. Broad-brush envi- shown that site identification by government may miss ronmental investigations in the general form of a Strate- sites that are considered optimum by private developers gic Environmental Assessment should be undertaken and vice versa. Close collaboration between the two par- to allow at least the scope of environmental issues to ties is therefore to be encouraged. be identified and to rule out any sites where there are likely to be major environmental concerns. Action B–1: High-Level Site Identification Techno-economic and environmental feasibility for off- An initial systematic resource assessment should be shore wind should be assessed at a national or pro- undertaken using all methods available: land-based vincial strategic level prior to the award of any sites measurements that can be extrapolated to offshore, for development. The system for such award would measurements on existing offshore oil and gas plat- benefit from allowing for a mix of large companies and forms appropriately adjusted for height and exposure, small entrepreneurial developers to stimulate growth. and computational models that can be used to under- take estimates of the wind potential. A first estimate Government should therefore undertake centralized of the offshore potential should be made using these investigations of potential sites on a national and/or existing data and tools, and the results should be used provincial basis. The intention of these initial investiga- to identify the locations of a network of offshore masts tions would be to identify the prime sites for develop- to be installed at a later stage when the competing ment that interests have also been identified. • Are economically viable with good wind condi- The initial investigations should be assembled into a tions and reasonable geotechnical conditions for GIS and used to identify and rank the various sites. construction • Have water depth of between 15m and 20m The Crown Estate in the United Kingdom has been • Have significant wave heights of less than 3m charged with the responsibility of gathering data that • Do not conflict with other existing commercial or already exist elsewhere in other agencies and placing other established use them in a single database. The time to develop such a • Have reasonable grid connection options GIS would be about one year. The actual time and the • Are environmentally acceptable associated cost will depend very strongly on the com- • Do not experience excessively high storm wind mercial arrangements that are entered into with the speeds or wave loads. other agencies and their willingness to cooperate. Such a GIS must be considered a “live” project that will be Such investigations should contribute to a master GIS continually updated. that can be used for site selection. The purpose of this Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 41 Action B–2: Stakeholder Consultation greater or lesser degree been found for all national mar- Once the initial site data have been collected and the kets considered. Second, Denmark, Germany, and, to various layers of the GIS have been assembled, opti- some degree, the United Kingdom have opted to provide mum sites will be identified and a draft map provided. ongoing capital support to projects through the transfer This map of proposed offshore wind farm locations of grid connection costs, including export cables and off- and their associated capacity should then be used as shore substations, to the relevant network operator. The a basis for consultation with possible developers and former approach has allowed valuable technical experi- other stakeholders. The initial proposed sites should ence to be accrued during the early years of offshore be revised in the light of the stakeholder consultation wind, whereas the latter has provided ongoing alleviation to form a definitive list of the proposed sites. of the marginal project economics faced by developers, thus increasing deployment incentive. The free supply of Action B–3: Detailed Site Investigations and grid connections has allowed additional ad hoc support Measurements to be provided without specific acknowledgement of this Once the proposed sites have been identified and the additional support. A superior approach is to determine stakeholder views have been assessed, anemometry the extent of the grid construction in a clear and unam- masts should be erected. The masts should be at biguous policy, as discussed below. least 80 m above mean sea level and be distributed throughout the proposed sites. Within the possible The early demonstration projects have been shown to development areas masts should be positioned with have three different benefits: 1) lessons about the practi- a separation distance of no more than 50 km. The cal installation of the turbines offshore, 2) establishment mast should be instrumented at four levels to allow of the identity of all the stakeholders through demon- the shear profile to be computed. Measurements of stration, and 3) knowledge of the loading environment the local water current speeds and the wave climate of the offshore turbines. The latter allowed a proper should be made. The geotechnical conditions that are assessment of the design requirements for future off- recorded during the mast exploration and installation shore turbines and validation of the computational tools should also be recorded. These data should be used developed for modeling purposes. Successful examples to define the basic characteristics of the sites. The net- of this approach were seen at Blyth Harbour in the United work of masts should be preserved in locations unaf- Kingdom and at Horns Rev in Denmark. This activity will fected by the development of the wind farm projects also be valuable for the determination of certification so that they can gradually provide a valuable reference requirements for the future. A full understanding of tur- data set. They must be properly maintained. The data bine behavior is vital for reliable long-term designs to be should be made available to potential developers in provided. both processed and raw form. Early experience in Europe has shown that a major danger The total capital cost of each mast will be of the order with initial offshore wind farm deployment is the tempta- of US$750,000. Each mast should be in position for at tion to deploy turbines offshore too early in their develop- least one year. Experience in Europe suggests that an ment. A good example is the experience at Horns Rev. additional year should be allowed for permitting, con- Many of the initial problems experienced with offshore struction, and erection. This period may be shorter in wind operation (as opposed to construction and installa- China if the permitting procedures are more stream- tion) would have occurred in onshore applications of the lined. In order to accelerate the deployment of the proj- same turbines. The severity of a problem when it occurs ects, it is suggested that these masts and the resulting offshore is, of course, much greater than when it occurs data should be supplied to developers free of charge. onshore. It is a mistake to put in jeopardy the offshore potential by premature turbine deployment whereby the initial offshore wind farms look unnecessarily unreliable. Group C: Capital Support and Demonstration There has been much criticism of the early offshore wind farms from wind energy detractors that could have been A schematic representation of the Group C demonstra- avoided if deployment had been delayed. Turbines should tion tasks is given in Figures B–14 and B–15. be thoroughly demonstrated onshore and achieve a high level of reliability before they are deployed offshore. Tur- Capital support for offshore wind projects, to date, has bine reliability can be improved much faster onshore than been provided through two avenues. Grants for R&D offshore, and nothing additional is learned by experienc- and demonstration projects have been essential for early ing these problems offshore for the first time. deployment, and evidence for such provision has to a 42 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Figure B–14: Schematic Representation of Initial Demonstration Tasks Action C–1: Initial Demonstrations Set wind farm capacity Mobilize 4 separate Make best estimate ~10 turbines teams using standard of energy output from available equipment data available Undertake detailed bathymetric and Identify 4 proposed sites geotechnical surveys with typical characteristics of large-scale commercial site but close to shore Design infrastructure Document design and Water depth must be design loads characteritic of commerical sites Instrument substructure and turbine Certify wind farm Select reliable turbines Install wave and wind as large as possible for monitoring instruments which there is a proven track record onshore. Install and commission Calibrate measurement system Start commercial operation Review installation and Undertake measurement commissioning to provide campaign “lessons learned” Provide detailed Document lessons learned in: comparison of design Design methodology and validation loads and measured loads Access Cabling Construction Operation Feedback to certification agency Provide guidelines for future wind farm development Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 43 Figure B–15: Schematic Representation of Commercial Demonstration Tasks Action C–2: Commercial Demonstrations Mobilize 4 teams Undertake detailed bathymetric and geotechnical surveys Set wind farm capacity >100 turbines Design infrastructure Announce intention to proceed on large commercial demonstration Document design and design loads Encourage interest of foundation/substructure fabrications Certify wind farm Encourage interest of vessel owners/operators Install and commission Calibrate measurement Encourage interest of system cable-laying companies Start commercial Encourage interest of operation major turbine manufacturers Select reliable turbines Undertake measurement Review installation and as large as possible for campaign commissioning to promote which there is a proven “lessons learned” track record onshore Provide detailed comparison of design loads and Document lessons learned in: measured loads Design methodology and validation Access Cabling Construction Feedback to Operation certification agency Provide guidelines for future wind farm development Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. 44 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Capital support for the first offshore wind projects in any could be programmed for the first quarter of 2010. national market is important in order to achieve early Careful consideration should be given to the founda- momentum. Transfer of grid connection costs to network tion design. In each of the projects, one of the turbines operators is an important support mechanism in markets should be comprehensively instrumented to capture where such costs are prohibitively high. Demonstration its dynamic behavior, and wind and wave character- projects are required in order to kickstart the industry. istics should be recorded simultaneously. The data Several stages of demonstration are needed to encour- recorded should be used to validate the computational age the establishment of the turbines and the supporting models that have been used for the project and turbine industrial infrastructure. These steps are set out below. design. Action C–1: Initial Demonstration A successful outcome of such a demonstration project Some initial, relatively small-scale demonstration proj- would be rapid learning of the basic lessons on access, ects are suggested. These projects should be under- cabling, construction, and operation, as well as impor- taken in locations that are typical of the large-scale tant scientific information that will improve the design commercial projects with respect to geotechnical, methodology. An adequate budget should be set aside wave, current, wind, and bathymetric conditions. There for the proper monitoring of the performance of these should be a sufficient number of these initial demon- projects. stration projects to allow a representative number of developers and, more important, offshore contractors Action C–2: Commercial-Scale Demonstration Projects to participate. For each project design, calculations and The government should gauge the number of potential methodology should be reported in detail in order to serious interested parties and try to provide a demon- permit detailed comparison with measured results. stration project for each. Projects should be sized at, These demonstrations are not intended to demon- say, 100 turbines per project. These projects should be strate the turbine technology, but rather to gain experi- based on a rigorous resource assessment and should ence of the offshore elements of the work: foundation follow commercial lines in all technical details. In order design and construction and turbine installation, as well to ensure proper interest in these projects, a capital as cable laying, for example. These projects should use contribution should be made to the cost, as well as the only turbines that have already demonstrated availabil- provision of a commercial tariff (discussed elsewhere). ity onshore in excess of 98 percent on a long-term There would be considerable benefit in the involve- basis. They should not use prototype turbines. If no ment of foreign parties in these projects, since such Chinese manufacturer can meet this requirement, it an arrangement would provide direct access to experi- may be necessary to use foreign turbines. Proven for- ence gained elsewhere. eign turbines should be used in preference to unproven Chinese turbines, since the purpose of the project is The successful outcome of these projects would be not to demonstrate the turbines, but rather to learn the development of from the offshore deployment. Chinese turbines may well be substituted at a later stage when they are suf- • Prototype vessels for the construction and instal- ficiently well proven. lation of offshore wind turbines • Substantial interest in the supporting industry for These projects can be undertaken before any special- the provision of monopiles and other foundations, purpose vessels have been constructed. Hence, the as well as cable laying construction will be done with whatever equipment • Foundation design methodology specialist re- is readily available. No detailed resource assessment source would be required, although as accurate an assess- • Initial experience of O&M of offshore wind farms ment as possible should be obtained. The water depth and the development of vessels necessary for must be at least 15 m. Four projects of this type should regular and reliable access. be undertaken each with a different team. The notional size of each project should be 10 turbines. In order to These industries are necessary prerequisites for the gain maximum benefit from these projects, they should development of a commercial offshore industry. be executed as rapidly as possible—commissioning Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 45 Group D: Underlying Research and initial demonstration should be focused on infrastructure Development and support—essentially the nonturbine elements of the offshore projects. They should not be considered as A schematic representation of the R&D tasks is provided turbine development projects but as offshore wind farm in Figure B–16. projects. A clear decision about these priorities is essen- tial to avoid a possible serious failure. The principal barrier facing the offshore wind industry currently is high cost. Although the main reasons for Arguably, the most important future technical develop- this are not inherent to the technology but rather are ment for offshore wind will be the inception of truly commercially driven, experience has shown that there offshore-specific wind turbine designs. Funding and proj- is significant potential for cost reduction through tech- ect sites will be required for this and the markets that nical innovation. While ongoing R&D and demonstration provide them are likely to benefit more from the derived projects such as Beatrice in the United Kingdom (demon- lessons. stration in relatively deep water) and Alpha Ventus in Ger- many (demonstration of new turbines of approximately The turbines presently used for offshore wind farm appli- 5 MW) will play an important role in this regard, a con- cations are essentially marinized versions of onshore tinued effort is required within the offshore wind indus- turbines. For large-scale commercial production of off- try to bring down capital and operational costs. Careful shore wind-generated electricity, the turbines may be consideration should be given to the desired outcome of very different. Globally there is relatively little effort being such R&D projects. The recommendation here is that the Figure B–16: Schematic Representation of Research and Development Tasks Research and development Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Future D–1a: Initial turbine D–1b: Turbine D–1c: Turbine initial design and development manufacture operation and evaluation D–1d: Ongoing turbine design and development D–2: Foundation design D–3: Vessel development Group D Research and D–4: Access solutions Development D–5: Grid connection and electrical infrastructure D–6: Integrated structural design D–7: Wake behavior D–8: Certification rules D–9: Foreign participation Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. 46 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power put into the development of these turbines, and hence important to introduce innovation in the design of foun- there is an opportunity to develop leading technology in dations, the installation techniques that are used to erect this area. The onshore turbine designs are largely con- the turbines, the design and construction methods used strained by social rather than technical limits and these for the electrical connections, and the development of are all removed when offshore. The cost of the turbine is suitable vessels to allow installation of offshore wind a smaller (50 percent) part of the cost of the whole farm turbines in large volumes. In Europe some effort is now compared to the onshore wind farms (75 percent), and being put into the development of foundation solutions hence, if turbines can be increased in size, there may for deeper-water sites. This does not, however, seem well be a saving to be made in the total wind farm cost. to be appropriate for the Chinese market, since plenty At present the Chinese turbines are in the size range of of shallow sites appear to be available for exploitation. 1.5–2 MW at the largest. These turbines should be used However, if after the completion of the systematic site for the proposed demonstration projects if they have been assessment described above in Action B–1 a shortage proved to be sufficiently reliable. In Europe there are off- of such sites emerges, it will also be a topic for explo- shore turbines under or just about to start demonstration ration in China. Table B–3 presents the recommended in the 5–6 MW range. It is not necessary to use these R&D actions for various aspects of offshore wind farm larger turbines if the water is relatively shallow (less than development and indicative costs of those efforts. It also 15 m). For deeper water, it is likely that the larger turbines provides an assessment of whether Garrad Hassan and will be required. It is therefore necessary for the Chinese Partners Limited sees merit in waiting for international industry to develop these larger turbines if it is going to developments or whether China should move forward on realize the full potential of its offshore resource. China its own. could wait for the development of European turbines and use that technology as the foundation of its own offshore Finally, a crucial observation that has been made in the turbine development. This would be a low-risk approach. early operation of offshore wind farms in Europe is the dif- However, experience onshore has shown that it is not ficulty in estimating availability. The availability of onshore the correct approach, since the Chinese industry appears wind turbines is generally in excess of 95 percent. This to be frustrated in the development of its own technol- value is kept high through frequent visits of mainte- ogy by the lack of real technology transfer in the onshore nance teams. Availability of offshore turbines is there- industry. Development of domestic offshore turbines fore a combination of the accessibility of the turbine by now therefore seems sensible. the maintenance crew and the availability of the turbine itself. There is considerable effort in progress in Europe In offshore projects the foundation and supporting infra- now on the development of techniques for access to off- structure are a much more important part of the cost of shore turbines in rough sea conditions. Similar activities a wind farm, and hence, in addition to the efforts in cost should be initiated in China. The suggested timescale for reduction through turbine development, it will also be these projects is shown in Figure B–16. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 47 Table B–3: R&D Actions for Various Areas Action Comment Action D-1: Turbine R&D Cost per turbine: Technical innovation should be encouraged in order to bring down the costs of offshore Design: US$5 million wind energy in the medium and long term. This can be facilitated through continued Prototype: US$15 million funding of R&D projects with a focus on offshore-specific technological solutions. Government should encourage and partially fund the development of Chinese domestic No merit in waiting for turbines with a capacity of more than 4 MW for eventual offshore deployment. Western development. Successful outcome of this project would be the development of at least two types of large-scale offshore turbines ready for commercial exploitation within a three-year horizon. Action D-2: Foundation R&D Cost per foundation: R&D should be undertaken to develop appropriate foundation solutions for the combi- Design: US$0.2 million nation of soil and sea conditions that are found in China. The systematic site selection Prototype: US$1 million process described above will determine the environmental conditions that prevail. There are various types of foundations presently in use: gravity, monopile, tripod, and tri-pile. No merit in waiting for Suction caissons have also been tested, but so far without success. It is fair to say that Western development. there is no universally agreed solution and that there will be different preferred solutions for different sites. The optimum solution will also depend on the availability of appropriate manufacturing facilities for the particular solution. There is a great deal of scope for cost reduction and integrated design activity in this area. Action D-3: Vessel Development Cost per vessel China is already leading the way in specialist offshore wind farm installation vessels. Design: US$2 million Several Chinese vessels are already operating in the European market. Development of Fabrication on a commercial basis. specialized vessels has a very strong effect on cost and therefore deserves considerable attention. For successful cost-effective, large-scale implementation, such vessels are China is already leading the world; essential. hence, continue as now. Action D-4: Access Solutions Use Western approaches already The sea conditions in the area of likely activity should be determined in detail and an in operation. Apply on initial investigation performed of the various access approaches that can be used for a particu- demonstration projects. lar location: helicopters and small vessels should be investigated. There is room for major innovation in the development of new access methods. An access method that improves the accessibility of a turbine is likely to be very valuable both for application in China and abroad. Action D-5: Grid Connection and Electrical Infrastructure Cost of design element US$3 million The electrical aspects of a large offshore wind farm are a major part of the cost. Innova- tive solutions for both the internal infrastructure and the grid connection will be beneficial Development of HVDC may have and are under investigation in the West. The use of HVDC methods may be appropriate. to wait for Western developments. The uses of a complete system design in which some functions that are often located Domestic HVDC may develop for at the turbine level are relocated at the interconnection level may also be a possibility. other applications as well. These may have to use voltage source HVDC because of the large capacitive charging current if alternating current (AC) is used. Offshore grids using HVDC do not exist yet and so technical development is required. Investigation of the appropriate location for the grid and turbine transformers is also important. The location of the grid transformer deter- mines the nature of the interconnection. A complete system design approach should be developed. Action D-6: Integrated Structural Design Cost per turbine and substructure At present offshore wind farms are a collection of turbines that are erected together in Design: US$0.25 million the sea. As indicated above, there is no real activity yet on the development of “real” Prototype: US$2 million offshore turbines, and similarly there is no real effort on the integration of designs for the whole structure. The development of design methodology and then actual integrated No merit in waiting for designs is likely to be very beneficial and should be initiated. For example, the subsea Western development. structure should be designed as an integral part of the turbine structure; the whole design should be reviewed for erection and installation compatibility. (continued) 48 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Table B–3: R&D Actions for Various Areas (Continued) Comment Action Action D-7: Wake Behavior To be undertaken in The wakes in large-scale offshore wind farms are not well understood. The wakes appear international cooperation to persist much longer in these farms than the current models predict. Energy predic- tions are therefore inaccurate, at least compared to normal commercial onshore wind Full-scale measurements: farms. It also seems that some unexplained and substantial loads can occur from time US$2 million to time. Systematic investigation of both the wake behavior and the resulting loads is required to allow appropriate design of future wind farms and hence associated cost or Computational work: risk reduction. Full-scale load and energy measurements should be undertaken coupled US$0.5 million with computational model development. This activity may be shared with the similar task identified in the WPB program. Action D-8: Certification Rules To be undertaken in In parallel with the development of the technology, appropriate certification rules should international cooperation be developed. These certification rules should draw heavily on those that are already appearing for the European developments. The European rules are still in draft form, Cost US$2 million but are evolving continually. The Chinese certification agencies should collaborate in the development of these rules and ensure that the rules that are adopted in China are con- sistent with those adopted elsewhere. Although consistency of approach is important, proper distinction must be made between the differing site conditions found around the world, and the Chinese conditions must be properly identified and documented. Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Section B–4 Roadmap for Intertidal Development Most of the technical issues associated with the develop- The emphasis in this section is initial consideration of ment of intertidal projects have been described above, in the possible solutions for the intertidal zone that has the context of offshore wind farm development. The load- not been reclaimed. A promising option appears to be a ing on the intertidal turbines will be the same as that for monopile installed using a small jack-up barge. Monopile WPB turbines; there will be no appreciable wave loads. or piled foundations are both possible. Both have their The turbine sizes are also likely to be similar. Connection advantages and disadvantages. Monopiles require spe- to the grid along the east coast appears to be relatively cialist fabrication and installation, which may prove to simple. The challenges specific to intertidal development be viable only if many wind turbines are installed. Piled are what foundations to build and how to build them and foundations are only practicable if site tracks and work- how to install the turbines. ing platforms can be constructed above water level. The monopiles involve well-established conventional technol- As for any wind project, the economics of the intertidal ogies, while the cap and piling are likely to be expensive. developments will depend on the installation cost and All these assumptions and conclusions are based on very the wind resource. The wind resource for the intertidal limited data that must be tested through the following project locations is not well known and must be estab- actions. lished as a priority. The possible foundation solutions for offshore and inter- Group E: Intertidal Actions tidal wind farms have been investigated and compared The actions that would be required to allow a proper cost with one another and also with the conventional onshore comparison to be made between intertidal wind farm spread footings. The onshore solutions follow accepted development, and offshore and WPB development, are Chinese and international practice. The proposed off- described in Figure B–17. shore solution will depend strongly on the local geotech- nical data, but is likely to follow the monopile approach This list of tasks is of a preliminary nature, and is related that has been adopted in most European offshore wind to the particular foundation design illustrated in Figure farms. The foundations that will be adopted for reclaimed B–18. A similar approach would be needed for the other land are likely to be the conventional pile cap solution, design options, such as using crawlers rather than barges assuming good enough road access for the major plant for access and installation. can be provided. 49 50 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Figure B–17: Relationship between Intertidal Tasks Intertidal tasks E–1: Assemble existing geotech data E–2: Assemble all Rough estimate of E–4: Identify most existing wind data resource promising locations E–3: Identify grid connections E–5: Undertake representative geotech surveys E–6: Erect local E–7a: Investigate anemometry foundation designs E–7b: Cost design Better estimate and associated Compare cost estimate of resource equipment with offshore and WPB options E–8: Investigate and E–9: Provide detailed cost use of large crawlers capital cost estimate instead of barges for IT project Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Figure B–18: Schematic Design of a Possible Intertidal Foundation 5.3 m External J tubes Tower Work platform Boat landing 4.0 m Transition piece 7.0 m with grouted joint Highest tide 4.0 m Mud flat 34.0 m to 57.0 m Monopile Dredging required to allow access for installation vessel 5.0 m Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 51 Key Actions for Intertidal Wind Farm Development Action E-7: Investigate and determine costs for The actions recommended for developing intertidal wind suitable foundation designs. farms are as follows: Given the knowledge derived from the above tasks, determine the costs of the different foundation Action E-1: Assemble geotechnical data designs and identify the least-cost one, based on the Assemble existing geotechnical data available in the information at hand. Various access options have been intertidal zone. Check these data against the assump- addressed and the optimum appears to be the develop- tions used in preliminary designs. ment of “access canals” as opposed to access tracks. These access canals will be provided by local dredg- Action E-2: Assemble existing wind data ing. The availability of local dredging capacity should be Assemble all existing wind data in the intertidal zone checked and an investigation of the cost and availability and use it to estimate the likely wind speeds in the of the following equipment should be made: zone in order to obtain initial approximate estimates. • Small jack-up barges Action E-3: Identify grid connections • Dredging equipment Identify likely grid connection points in the intertidal • Monopiles. zone. Action E-8: Investigate and determine costs of Action E-4: Identify promising locations construction options Using the results of Actions E-3 and E-2, identify the When better data to describe the characteristics of most promising locations for the development of the the mud are available, some investigation should be projects. made of the possibility of using large crawlers in place of the jack-up barges. Initial evaluation suggests that Action E-5: Undertake representative geotech surveys the combined weight of the crawler and the large wind Undertake initial geotechnical survey of the conditions turbine components (tower, monopile, and nacelle) will at the most promising locations. In addition provide at be too great for the bearing capacity of the mud. It is least the following information: nevertheless considered that such an approach does merit some serious evaluation perhaps in conjunction • Investigation of the cost and availability of with a Chinese manufacturer of large plant. u material for construction of site tracks and working platform Action E-9: Provide detailed capital cost estimate u existing practices for reclamation of land Based on all information obtained, provide detailed • Investigation of possible site layouts and tidal costs estimate for large-sale intertidal developments ranges. that will allow comparative costs to be made with the offshore and WPB solutions. Action E-6: Erect local anemometry Erect anemometry masts on the most promising sites using the specifications set out in Action H. Section B–5 Wind Power Base Roadmap The term large scale is subject to local interpretation and, Group F: The Basic Philosophy as shown in the discussion of the policy context in Sec- F.1: Decide on Optimal Dispersion tion B–2, in China is likely to mean a scale considerably In order for wind energy to reach its full potential, it is greater than what is understood by the term in Europe. necessary for it to be considered on the same scale as Offshore wind farms of gigawatt scale are now being other forms of generation. It is therefore natural to con- considered in Europe, and projects of a similar size are sider the possibility of a 10 GW project. China has other under consideration onshore in the United States, albeit power station clusters of similar dimensions. However, as a group of separate projects. Certainly the proposed in considering the details of such a possibility, it is neces- development of a 10 GW WPB is outside the experience sary to remember the basic physics that underlies the of any country onshore or offshore. Since there is no process of conversion of the kinetic energy in the air into direct precedent, in this study, “large project problems” electrical energy in a wire. Such consideration is amena- have been considered. ble to rigorous objective investigation and modeling and hence to a process of optimization. Optimization is likely Given this scale, Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited to demonstrate that very large quantities of wind power believes that the some of the same issues are likely to be generation will be better installed in a dispersed man- encountered both on- and offshore—they will be prob- ner. This approach will produce more reliable, cheaper lems of scale rather than location. electricity and will have a smaller impact on the electrical system. It would still require a major investment in grid The tasks are divided into five groups: infrastructure, and it is this investment that is the key to unlocking China’s wind potential. 1. Group F: Basic philosophy 2. Group G: Electrical integration A rigorous objective investigation of the optimal dis- 3. Group H: Wind resource persion of 10 GW of wind is proposed as an urgent 4. Group I: Turbines study based on the assumption that a major grid rein- 5. Group J: Infrastructure and support. forcement investment is available. Such a study will include a model of the grid characteristics and infra- An overall timeline for the tasks is provided in Figure B–19. structure cost and will model the behavior of a single Some actions do not fit logically on such a time-line. concentrated WPB and a progressively dispersed WPB with the same energy output (and hence, because of In each subsection that follows, the tasks are identified wake losses, probably a smaller installed capacity). The based on experience elsewhere. Figure B–20 shows outcome will define the optimum configuration for the how the various tasks are connected and what outputs WPB design. are expected from them. Such a task could be completed in one year and would cost about US$0.5 million. 53 54 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Figure B–19: Summary of Timeline of Actions for the WPB Summary time line of actions for WPB Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Future F–1: Decision on Group F optimal dispersion Basic philosophy F–2: High-level electrical integration study G–1: Systematic connection studies Group G G–2: Regulatory issues—Grid code development Electrical integration G–3: Design options G–4: Operational option Group H H: Multiple tasks Wind resource I–1: Identification of proven turbines I–2: Development of Chinese certification rules Group I I–3: Operational monitoring Turbines I–4: Development of appropriate turbine supply contracts I–5: Making data available J–1: Streamline environmental assessment Group J Infrastructure J–2: Training and support J–3: Creating bankable projects Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. F.2: Study Options for Grid Integration—High Level to rigorous modeling using standard electrical engineer- Wind energy is variable, but it does not suffer from sud- ing techniques. There is now a good understanding of den disconnection of large amounts of generation as how individual wind turbines work electrically and also does conventional generation. It has different character- how they connect and behave in groups. Good electrical istics that must be accommodated in the grid system. models are available. It is essential to undertake a com- The connection of 10 GW into a system in a single place prehensive modeling exercise of the behavior of these sounds like a daunting task, but that may simply be how turbines connected at the candidate points once the dis- it is seen with European eyes. Very high levels of gen- persion of the WPB has been decided. This is a large but eration, when considered as a proportion of total gen- perfectly feasible exercise. It should, however, be under- eration, have already been included in Spain, Denmark, taken in considerable detail as a precursor to any major and Germany. The scale of conventional generation in implementation steps. China is huge. Investigation of this process is amenable Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 55 Figure B–20: Interaction of Some WPB Tasks and Their Expected Outputs Interaction between tasks and expected outcomes H–1: Historical wind data H–4d: Small-scale wind farm Better energy and computational modelling estimates H–2: Reference H–4a: Full-scale wind wind data farm measurements Initial energy estimates H–4b: Wind-farm to wind-farm interference H–3: Onsite data H–5: Establish extreme wind conditions H–4c: Progressive Mitigate build out of initial WPB risk I–4: Operational monitoring I–2: Development of Chinese Reliable I–5: Making data certification rules turbines available G–2: Regulatory issues— I–4: Development of appropriate Grid code development turbine supply contracts G–4: Operational option H–4c: G–3: Design Reliable Progressive options power buildout of F–1: Decision on initial WPB optimal dispersion Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Group G: Electrical Integration A rigorous statistical investigation should be under- taken into the interaction of the WPBs with the The challenge is to transport the energy from the WPB grid and thereby allow proper specification of the locations in the north and the west to load in the east of grid upgrades required and also the level of genera- the country. tion support/benefit that arises. Such a study should be undertaken in conjunction with the introduction G.1: Systematic Connection Studies of short-term forecasting as described below in There is no comparable experience of connecting con- Action H-6. centrated blocks of, say, 10 GW of wind farms to a network, but a review of the issues suggests that the following points should be carefully considered. These points should be addressed in any connection study. 56 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power The continuous rating of the connection should be • Fault-ride through capability determined, given that this very extensive wind farm • Requirement to provide frequency response from may not generate its rated output frequently, if ever. the wind turbines There will, therefore, be an optimum connection size. • Requirement of the main power system to provide frequency response and reserve. How are these The connection circuit topology will be determined services to be paid for? This is known as Balancing by the maximum loss of generation that the power Power in the Nord Pool (the Scandinavian power system can accept. This will be driven by the security market where there is considerable penetration of standards of the power system. Redundancy in the wind power) and may become an important com- wind farm collection circuits will probably be limited to mercial question. switching to other partly loaded circuits, but this mat- ter should be confirmed. The Chinese grid code should be reviewed and revised to ensure proper compatibility of the WPB with the The wind turbine generator technology used and the system and that there are no unnecessary constraints robustness of the variable speed equipment will deter- placed on the WPB design. A consultative process mine the ability of the wind farm to control power should be put in place between the TSO and the likely factor and provide fault-ride-through capability. If the WPB developers. The outcome should be a very clear proposed wind farms cannot control the power factor technical specification of the grid requirements. at the point of connection effectively or are not robust in the event of faults, then power electronic reactive G.3: Study Design Options power devices (STATCOMs and SVCs) may be required It is understood that connection at 750 kV AC has at each subwind farm. Optimization of the location of been decided upon for the large-scale transmission of these devices will be an important cost factor. important loads over long distances. However, it may be useful to confirm that alternatives have been con- It is important to determine the performance require- sidered, for example an HVDC link. ments (grid code requirements) that will be imposed on the wind turbines. The looser these are, the greater An important question with the 750 kV connections is will be the expense of the TSO. There is a clear trade off how much synchronous generation must be kept in between expense of meeting rigorous requirements operation. This will be depend on the following: imposed on the wind turbines at the turbine level and the expense of doing the same at the grid level that • Steady-state voltage regulation (the 750 kV circuits will be required to build a grid connection if the local will generate significant reactive power if lightly requirements are flexible. loaded) • Stability: transient, dynamic, and voltage G.2: Regulatory Issues • The performance of the wind turbines. The regulatory issues depend on the point at which the wind farm power collection system becomes part of The conventional design process would follow the main interconnected network. It would be usual for the wind farm developer to pay all costs for the connec- • Determination of circuit topology following Secu- tion up to this point. Beyond that point it would be usual rity and Quality of Supply Standards for the wind farm operator to pay for the use of assets • Studies to examine steady-state operation (load through use of system charges. This arrangement will, of flows) course, be colored by the normal commercial procedures • Studies to examine fault-level contributions and that are adopted in China. protection (fault studies) • Studies to examine stability (transient and dynamic It will be important to confirm that the design and stability studies) operation standards for such a large development • Electromagnetic studies. reflect the particular characteristics of wind farms. These include: Particular issues for the very large wind farm include: • Ratings and topology of connection • Performance required of the wind turbines • Voltage limits of connection circuits • Reserve and response required from the conven- • Requirement for voltage/power factor control of tional synchronous generation. the subwind farms Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 57 It may be useful to make a clear distinction between cur- be US$3–4 million. One turbine therefore pays for 100 rent source and voltage source HVDC. Current source masts. uses thyristors and is suitable for long-distance transmis- sion (>3 GW) from the WPB areas. China is encourag- Failing to undertake proper wind measurements could ing the major equipment manufacturers (ABB, Siemens, easily result in a deficit of 10 percent on energy. A 10 per- AREVA) to develop 800 kV current source HVDC equip- cent reduction on energy (see Action H-4 below) in a sin- ment with even higher ratings. Voltage source uses insu- gle 3.8 GW WPB would result in lost revenue of US$60 lated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and can supply wind million, or the cost of 1,500 masts every single year. farms. It is suitable for offshore transmission (maximum rating at present approximately 1 GW). All three major There is no excuse for poor or missing instrumentation. manufacturers either already do (ABB and Siemens) or will offer this equipment next year (AREVA). H.1: Historical Wind Data An initial task that can be undertaken immediately is to G.4: Assess Operational Options make a detailed inventory of the historical wind data that The operation of the wind farm and the synchronous gen- are already available. Experience has shown that although eration in the network must be considered. If the wind meteorological services may state that they have long energy can be injected into a large (200 GW) system with histories of reliable wind data, this is very rarely the case. no constraints, the impact on conventional generation is The CMA does, in principle, have such data and they likely to be limited. However, if it is necessary to modu- should be gathered, archived, and thoroughly analyzed. If late the output of synchronous generation, costs will be there are data available, they will be very valuable. If there incurred and commercial issues are likely to be raised. It are any proposals to modernize, move, update, or in any appears that there are 3–5 GW of synchronous genera- other way change the instrumentation or its mounting, tion available to “match the building of wind power. ” it is vital that the new equipment be operated in parallel with the old for at least six months. Failure to do so will A systematic investigation of the effect of the develop- mean that any historical data that have been collected at ment of the WPBs on the existing synchronous gen- such stations will be immediately valueless. This problem eration is required. This investigation should determine has appeared on a regular basis in other countries when the cost of both the potential changes in the opera- the meteorological services are modernized or the sites tional envelopes of the existing generation and the are otherwise developed. For example, in the United cost of any new equipment that may be needed to States there was a systematic program of improvement support the wind energy activity. to the national network of wind speed measurements. The old, analog Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) system was replaced by new, digital instrumen- Group H: Wind Resource tation. During the replacement program, there was no It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of sys- overlap between the old and the new instruments, and tematic wind measurements. If poor or inadequate wind hence, since consistency could not be guaranteed, the measurements are made, the estimates of energy pro- long-term historical data were rendered useless and duction will be unreliable. Exploitation of wind energy on could not be adopted for correlations. Similar problems, the scale envisaged with the WPBs should not be under- but of a less systematic nature, have occurred in various taken without meticulous investigation of the resource. European meteorological services. This problem appears Attention should be paid to both local wind measure- partly because there is no other industry that has such a ments and historical reference data. keen interest in mean wind speeds. For wind energy the difference between a site mean wind speed of 7 .0 and 7.3 If there are problems with the turbines or the civil or elec- m/s is large. For other applications—for example, build- trical infrastructure, they can be corrected by spending ing integrity—such a difference is immaterial. It is noted additional funds. If there is a problem with the energy that exactly this problem appeared in the analysis of the estimate, usually through poor wind measurements, Huitengxile WPB. nothing can be done. It is important to put the cost of wind measurements into proper context. A single 40 m Long-term weather stations are a valuable asset and mast with instrumentation may cost US$40,000. The should be protected. cost of a single 2 MW turbine installed on the site might 58 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Action H-1: H.3: On-Site Data The following tasks are therefore suggested: Action H-3: • Perform a detailed inventory of the historical wind For individual projects, it is recommended that: data that are already available • Set up protocol to ensure that these data are not • There be an absolute minimum of one year of corrupted and if any changes are made, “overlap- high-quality data collected on masts of at least 80 ping measurements” will be made. m in height • Within each wind farm site within the WPB in H.2: Reference Wind Data complex terrain, no wind turbine be located fur- A systematic investigation of the likely sites is ther than 1 km from a mast essential. • In simpler terrain, say, in open rolling pasture, this limit can be raised to 2.5 km Action H-2: • Masts covering the area may be lower at say 40 m The following steps are recommended. A valuable ref- in height. These measurements may be comple- erence data set will result: mented by remote sensing investigations using LIDAR or SODAR. • Regions in which WPBs are likely to be estab- lished should be identified and computational Data must be gathered from these masts for at least assessments performed of them. one full year before estimates can be made of the • Areas within these regions where specific wind energy production at theses sites together with asso- farms are likely to be built are identified. ciated uncertainties. Data should include temperature • Locations near to these areas that are exposed and pressure, as well as wind speed and direction. to similar wind conditions but are far enough away from them to avoid interference with the H.4: Energy Estimates measurements after the wind farms are built are Recent experience in large offshore projects and in large identified. projects in Texas suggests that the wake losses in big • Reference anemometry masts of at least 80 m wind farms in areas of low turbulence are significantly height are built on these sites and then carefully larger than originally anticipated. For large projects, evi- maintained as a long-term reference data set. The dence suggests that errors could be on the order of 5–10 masts should be instrumented with anemometry percent. at 20 m intervals over their height. Temperature, pressure, and wind directions should be mea- In smaller wind farms in turbulent wind regimes, the sured at each mast; natural mixing of the air reenergizes the wakes, and they • The masts should use the sensors defined above die away quite quickly. In large wind farms in low turbu- specified to IEC standards. Great care should lence regimes, this does not happen. At present there be taken not to use “homemade” or other ama- is no reliable means of predicting this effect. It is pres- teur instrumentation. Good-quality commercial/ ent under conditions of high density of turbines and low scientific instruments must be adopted and must ambient turbulence—exactly the conditions that will be be properly maintained. All instruments must be present at the WPBs. Some pragmatic approaches have traceable to recognized standards. been developed and are able to broadly reproduce the effect that can be substantial. There is also growing evi- A substantial network of this sort, which is accessible dence that the “wind farm-to-wind farm” wakes may to all developers, will be of great value. Care must be have been underestimated. All of these data suggest that taken to ensure that this network of masts is both it is preferable to achieve large levels of installed capac- properly installed and properly maintained. These data ity through dispersed wind farms rather than through a will allow rigorous evaluation of the performance of concentrated approach. Figure B–21 shows an example the WPB in operation. of the conventional calculation (triangular symbols) of the wake effect from a wind turbine in an offshore wind farm and the measured effect (circular symbols) in the same wind farm. It also shows the calculations using a modified calculation procedure (rectangular symbols). It is clear from this figure that the new approach is needed Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 59 and that the potential discrepancy is very large (20–40 Calculation of Wake Effects in Figure B–21:  percent). It has been developed but is still largely unvali- Large Wind Farms dated. At present it is still a matter of conjecture as to whether a large onshore wind farm in low turbulence air (such as is experienced in a WPB) will behave in the 1.0 WF modified eddy viscosity (EV) model same way, but it seems likely. WF EV model Measured power If a 3.8 GW WPB that receives US$60/MWh for its energy 0.8 suffers from an unnecessary additional wake loss of 10 percent, in one year it will lose the following: 10% x 30% (CF) x 3,800 (MW) x 8,760 (hours/annum) 0.6 x 60 (US$/MWh) = US$60,000,000 or Y 430,000,000 This sum of money is huge and demonstrates the value 0.4 of investment in a good understanding of the physics of these systems is. Action H-4a: Full-scale wind farm performance 0.2 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 measurements Proper allowance must be made in the prediction of Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. energy from the WPBs. For the initial projects, it is rec- ommended that an additional wake loss be included that may be calculated on a pragmatic basis. Careful measurements should be made in the initial subproj- A possible approach would be to build some temporary ects of the WPBs to detect this characteristic. These wind farms with a large number of small turbines—per- measurements can then be used to validate new meth- haps 500 3 kW domestic Chinese turbines could used. odologies for wake loss calculation for later projects. Each would cost, say, US$5,000 and could be resold at the end of the experiment. The total cost, including data Action H-4b: Wind farm–to–wind farm interference acquisition and data analysis, might be of the order of Additional experiments should also be initiated that US$6 million. The experiment would run for one year and allow the measurement of “wind farm-to-wind farm” after that the turbines could be sold to their final users. wakes. Such experiments will require the ability to If this experiment allowed a better understanding of the “switch off” the upwind wind farm and commercial wake losses in WPB, its cost would be very modest com- provisions for reimbursement under these conditions pared to the lost generation calculated above—a US$6 should be anticipated. million one-off cost compared to US$60 million annual loss for each 3.8 MW WPB. Action H-4c: Progressive buildout of subprojects As a first stage towards the goal of Action H-4b and Action H-4d: Small-scale wind farm and as a possible mitigant for the risks associated with the computational modeling of WPB behavior uncertainty associated with the performance of these Identify a suitable site, equip it with appropriately sized WPBs it suggested that construction of the subproj- wind turbine models, and make performance measure- ects that make up each element of the WPB could be ments using typical spacing arrangements for WPBs. built row by row. So that if there are, say, four projects Provide a dataset for validation of computational mod- that make up four sections of a WPB and each succes- els. In parallel develop computational models for large- sive project is downwind of the other subproject and scale wake effects. furthermore each subproject consists of, say, six rows, then the first step could be the construction of Row-1 H.5: Design for WPB Conditions of each of the subprojects; then Row-4 of each project Commercial wind turbines are all designed according and then Row-6, and so forth. At each stage energy to IEC international standards. These standards were measurements could be made. Such an approach will derived for northern European conditions and have allow a systematic buildup of the effect of the wakes served the industry well by improving the quality of to be developed. design assumptions and also providing a standard set 60 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power of design conditions. It is clear, however, that conditions speed. This approximation works quite well in northern in many important markets—for example, South Amer- Europe, but is not suitable for China. In some parts of ica and Texas, as well as China—are different. In some China (for example, in the southeast in the typhoon belt) respects, these conditions may be more severe than the extreme wind speed may be closer to 10 times the in northern Europe and hence the turbines may not be mean, and hence the IEC class designed turbines will be adequate for the purpose. In other respects they may be underdesigned. In other parts (such as Inner Mongolia) more benign, in which case the turbines are unneces- the extreme may be closer to four–five times the mean, sarily expensive. They are certainly different. Figure B–22 in which case the turbine will be overdesigned and more shows the standard distribution of mean wind speeds expensive than is necessary. The design of turbines with used in the IEC standard (the Rayleigh Distribution) and specifications suitable for specific Chinese applications is also a set of data measured at Xiaocao Lake in China. It is considered to be a useful task that could have important quite clear that these two distributions are of a radically economic implications, increasing the areas of exploit- different shape. The volume of turbines now being deliv- able wind energy, reducing the turbine and infrastructure ered into China provides a strong argument that it is now cost and reducing risks. Any wind measurement cam- sensible to design turbines for the site conditions. A set paigns that are put in place should include the facility for of WPB design criteria should be produced. the measurement of the extreme conditions. In addition to the determination of annual mean wind Without further detailed information about the WPB speed distributions, it will also be important to deter- sites, it is difficult to be certain of the potential cost sav- mine the extreme wind speeds. These are typically char- ings. However, if it is assumed that a typical WPB site acterized by the once-in-50-years, three-second gust, as has Class 110 mean wind speeds and Class 2 extremes, defined in the IEC standard. This parameter offers some a savings of 10 percent on turbine cost is conceivable. If, scope for specific development of turbines for the Chi- in addition, some advantage can be taken of the mean nese market since the values of the parameters that wind speed distribution, then a further 5 percent cost define site Classes 1, 2, and 3 under the IEC standard are saving would be possible. However, if Class 2 turbines unlikely to be appropriate for Chinese sites. They were are being put in areas where Class 1 extremes are likely, defined in order to characterize the typical wind farm the turbines are in danger. sites in northern Europe and have been adopted globally, largely as a result of the absence of any other definition. 10. Classes 1, 2, and 3 are terms used to describe different sites in the IEC standard. Class 1 has the highest mean wind speed at 10 In general terms, the extreme three-second gust is m/s, Class 2 has a mean wind speed of 8.5 m/s. The extreme wind assumed to be seven times the annual mean wind speeds are 70 and 59.5 m/s, respectively. Figure B–22: Comparison of Rayleigh Distribution of Mean Wind Speeds in Europe and in Xiaocao Lake 1,400 Xiaocao Lake PRC Rayleigh distribution 1,200 Xiaocao Lake 1,000 Hours in one year 800 European standard 600 400 200 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 Mean wind speed Source: CGC. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 61 Action H-5: Develop wind turbine specifications for techniques will greatly enhance the confidence of the WPB conditions state grid in its integration of the WPBs. In order to optimize the development of the Chinese domestic industry for supply to the Chinese domestic Action H-6: Pilot short-term forecasting market supply, a proper specification for the turbines Government should initiate some pilot short-term fore- for WPB conditions should be developed. A detailed casting demonstrations in order to allow the TSOs to appraisal of the mean wind speeds, the extreme wind gain experience of and confidence in these techniques. speeds, the turbulence intensity, and the shear profile Experience elsewhere has shown that the forecasting should be made at a range of WPB sites and a commen- tools often perform better than is anticipated by the surate technical specification, independent of the IEC TSOs. Hence, their early use can ease the passage of classes, should be drawn. Such an approach may well large-scale introduction of wind energy into the grid. It allow significant savings in the WPB cost. is suggested that experience is gained in short-term forecasting of operational wind farms (that is, not in H.6: Short-Term Forecasting waiting until the WPBs are operational) in a range of It has now become common in countries with a high conditions prior to the start of operation of any of the level of penetration for the TSO to require short-term WPBs. These forecasts should be initiated and speci- forecasts (hour by hour up to three days ahead) for any fied in consultation with the TSO. Short-term forecast- substantial wind farm. In some countries (Spain, United ing is likely to be a requirement for the WPBs and Kingdom, Ireland) this has been done on a wind farm-by- should greatly ease their integration into the system. wind farm basis. In other areas (Texas, California, New York State, Greece) it has been done on a system-wide Group I: Turbines basis. Short-term forecasting technology has developed rapidly over the last few years. Figure B–23 shows an I.1: Use of Proven Turbines example of the forecast produced for a portfolio of 450 It is understood that the intention is to use Chinese tur- MW of wind farms for each hour one day ahead. That is, bines in the WPBs. There is still relatively little operational the line marked “actual” is the average power that was experience of these turbines. There is therefore a major produced each hour for the period shown and the “fore- risk that the turbines will not be ready for large-scale cast” line is the prediction of that power made on an exploitation. Experience in the West of a rapid progres- hour-by-hour basis one day in advance. This shows that sion from prototype, to large-scale commercial use has wind power is variable but predictable. The appreciation been unsuccessful. A good example of such a problem of this quality is essential for the proper integration of was the initial deployment, in the 1990s, of the Zond wind power into the Chinese grid. Confidence in such (later part of Enron Wind) Z-750 turbines. After reasonable Figure B–23: An Example of Short-Term Forecasting 450 450 MW Forecast 400 One day ahead Actual 350 300 Power (MW) 250 200 150 100 50 0 20-Aug 22-Aug 24-Aug 26-Aug 28-Aug 30-Aug 01-Sep 03-Aug Date-Time Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. 62 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power experience of one 750 kW prototype, Zond deployed 143 I.2: Development of Chinese Certification Rules in the first large-scale wind farm in the United States. Certification has played a major role in the creation of reli- The wind farm did not work satisfactorily for a further five able wind turbines in the West. The certification process years. Initial deployment of the wind turbines offshore is only helpful if it adds value through its technical input in Denmark suffered in exactly the same way. The V-80 and can command the respect of the turbine manufac- deployment in Horns Rev is a good example. These tur- turers and designers. It must not be just a bureaucratic bines should have been proved in benign circumstances process; it must consist of a detailed and authoritative before installation in a difficult regime. This is a common review of the design. problem when there is a very strong commercial incen- tive that outweighs engineering common sense. In order to ensure that proven turbines are available, a strong certification regime must be put in place. This A systematic process is adopted that only allows the regime must be based on substantial technical exper- use of proven wind turbines on large-scale commer- tise. Any Chinese body providing such a service must cial wind farms. This may slow the development of be actively encouraged to cooperate fully with other the WPBs, but in the long term, it will have a positive similar international bodies. The Chinese certification effect on the large-scale exploitation of wind energy bodies must be properly funded and encouraged to in China. undertake detailed technical evaluations, help define applicable standards, and participate in international It may be useful to consider the definition that Garrad certification and standards cooperation. Hassan and Partners Limited has developed for a com- mercially proven turbine. This definition has been adopted I.3: Operational Monitoring by a number of the larger equity investors in large-scale The wind industry in China is still relatively new and wind farms. For a turbine that is a genuine evolution from expanding very rapidly. Despite the presence of a large another commercial turbine, the new turbine under con- number of actual and potential manufacturers, there is sideration may be considered “commercially proven” if little indigenous experience in design. The performance all the following conditions are met: of turbines installed in China, both domestic and foreign, has been largely poor—the energy reproduced has been • It is manufactured by a company capable of perform- significantly less than that projected, as shown in Table ing all the contractual and commercial obligations. B–4. For projects in the WPB areas, capacity factors in • It carries a current, valid GL, DNV, or other recog- the region of 30–40 percent should be obtained, since nized certificate. the wind speeds are so high, as suggested above. This • There are 100 turbines in operation. trend is a result of three separate issues: 1) poor calcu- • There is at least one turbine with more than 4,000 h lation methodology and/or wind data used to make the of operation. original projections, 2) poor availability of the turbines due • There is a fleet of turbines with a cumulative number to operational shortcomings, and 3) poor-quality design of turbine hours in excess of 50,000. and/or manufacture. Much can be learned from a detailed • The average availability of the fleet is greater than examination of these difficulties. 95 percent. It is instructive to compare the values provided in Table In this context, it must be demonstrated that the rel- B–4 for China with those for projects elsewhere in the evant turbine(s) has the ability to achieve the projected world. Reliable published data are scarce but the U.S. availability. For a turbine that is not a genuine evolution Department of Energy does publish some useful results from another turbine, the required number of cumulative that are shown in Table B–5 and Figure B–24. It is clear hours for meeting condition number 5 in the list above that there is a considerable regional variation in capac- should be 100,000 hours. ity factor but, apart from some very early projects, the values are significantly higher than those reproduced in These definitions may also be used as an indication of Table B–4 for China. the likelihood of obtaining project finance for a wind farm. The present Chinese approach, which appears to be to offer large-scale PPAs to unproven turbines, would not attract Western-style project finance, since the turbines do not meet these criteria. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 63 Figure B–24: Capacity-Weighted Capacity Factors for U.S. Wind Farms in 2007 50 45 40 35 30 25 Percent 20 15 10 5 0 Heartlands Texas California Northwest Mountain East Great Lakes Hawaii New England 43 projects 9 projects 9 projects 11 projects 8 projects 6 projects 2 projects 2 projects 3 projects 2,100 MW 1,602 MW 1,077 MW 1,077 MW 868 MW 535 MW 105 MW 41 MW 3 MW Source: U.S. Department of Energy—Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy—Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost and Performance Trends: 2007, Published May 2008. Table B–4:  Annual Full-Load Hours of Some A detailed examination of a wide range of large opera- Wind Farms tional wind farms should be undertaken and the results used to improve the operational procedures used for Average the wind farms as well as to identify the shortcomings Number Annual full- power of of the turbine designs. International collaboration would of wind load hours in Capacity wind turbine Province farms 2007 factor (kW) be valuable in this work. The results should be dissemi- nated to as wide a range of stakeholders as possible. Hebei 4 2,373 0.27 885 Inner Mongolia 7 1,933 0.22 770 I.4: Development of Appropriate Turbine Supply Contracts Liaoning 9 1,325 0.15 715 For projects of this size, careful thought must be given to Jilin 4 1,931 0.22 798 the contractual conditions and the associated technical Shanghai 2 1,651 0.19 1,356 specifications. In the West a huge variety of contract con- 1 1,344 ditions and specifications has been developed. Although Zhejiang 0.15 609 some diversity is helpful since it allows developers to Fujian 5 2,000 0.23 986 undertake projects to their own requirements, a higher Shandong 3 1,728 0.20 881 degree of standardization would be helpful to give some Guangdong 6 1,600 0.18 566 commercial flexibility but within a standard form. Hainan 1 1,417 0.16 483 Low availability is likely to be a problem, at least with Gansu 2 1,737 0.20 786 the early implementation of the projects. Hence, it is Xinjiang 4 2,401 0.27 654 suggested that long-term availability warranties should be a standard part of the supply contract. These war- 12 provinces 47 1,787 0.20 791 ranties should contain financial penalties for poor avail- Source: “Booming Wind Power Market and Industry in China, ” ability that adequately reimburse the project. A clear Shi Pengfei, Chinese Wind Energy Association. definition of availability should be provided that should be objective. Many warranty definitions are slanted in the manufacturer’s favor. The warranties should be for a minimum period of five years and should also contain clauses that only relieve the project from these obliga- tions after it has proven that it is capable of good, long- term availability. 64 Table B–5: Capacity-Weighted Capacity Factors Achieved by U.S. Wind Farms by Year Capacity Heartlands Texas California Northwest Mountain East Great Lakes Hawaii New England Factor (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) Pre-1998 28.9 11.9 22.3 19.8 1998–99 30.2 28.2 29.8 32.1 34.4 23.4 2000–01 33.4 29.6 34.5 28.7 29.3 22.5 23.5 27.0 2002–03 34.4 33.5 32.6 30.5 30.3 28.5 21.2 2004–05 36.8 34.5 37.5 34.0 38.9 26.7 31.0 2006 40.8 30.4 36.9 31.3 34.7 29.4 45.0 22.1 Sample # MW # MW # MW # MW # MW # MW # MW # MW # MW Pre-1998 1 26 1 34 17 870 1 6 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power 1998–99 8 470 3 139 5 190 1 25 3 68 3 22 2000–01 10 229 7 911 1 67 3 388 4 123 6 78 2 32 1 1 2002–03 20 628 2 198 4 287 2 105 3 510 3 161 1 50 2004–05 16 1,086 4 461 3 130 5 434 3 208 2 349 1 54 2006 7 386 3 944 2 188 4 538 2 150 1 26 2 41 3 3 Total 62 2,825 20 2,687 32 1,732 15 1,490 15 1,059 12 614 7 158 2 41 5 10 Source: U.S. Department of Energy—Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost and Performance Trends: 2007, May 2008. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 65 I.5: Making Data Available both direct operational crews and spare parts manu- In the West, progress has been hampered by the lack of facture. Given this major concentration of wind energy freely available operational data and lack of attention to endeavor, R&D activities may well follow. This plan will the data when they are available. The operational data are certainly have an effect on local industry and economic extremely valuable and can be used to improve the per- wealth if successful. It will be recognized as a center for formance of the wind farm for which they are gathered wind energy in global terms. To the knowledge of Garrad and also to improve the behavior of future wind farms. Hassan and Partners Limited, there is no other equiva- Developers will not necessarily recognize this fact, so the lent center anywhere else. The WPBs will require a huge projects should be structured so that they are required human resource. In the West there is a serious short- both to collect and to analyze these data. fall of trained personnel. There is no shortage of people to be trained, but the facilities to train them are lacking. As part of the contract, high-quality data collection The WPB will face exactly the same problem—only at a systems should be specified and reporting obligations higher level. should be imposed. The general scientific data should be available for further analysis outside the commercial China must make proper preparations to ensure that confines of the individual developer. Understanding the the trained personnel are available to support the WPBs operation of the WPBs will be an essential ingredient and in time to be helpful. Training programs and other for future optimization and therefore cost reduction. means of attracting the staff to the WPBs should be considered on an urgent basis. The training should be at all levels: from R&D through design and production Group J: Infrastructure and Support to O&M. There are training programs that have been J.1: Streamline Environmental Impact Assessment put in place by Western manufactures that could help The impact on the environment of such a concentrated significantly with this effort if they were made avail- wind farm scheme could be substantial, depending of able. There are also specialist training schools for O&M course on where it is. Clearly, consideration of this mat- activities that may be prepared to offer their services. ter will be part of the original site search and selection. Minimizing the aggregate environmental impact will It is estimated that some substantial wind farms in the be important, but at the same time recognition of the United States are losing 1–2 percent of the energy as environmental benefit of benign generation on a large a result of poor O&M practices, in particular through scale must be considered as a balance. An Environmen- the use of inadequately trained personnel. The U.S. tal Impact Assessment will be required just as for any wind industry has been expanding very rapidly, and other large-scale developments and can follow the lines hence there is a close parallel to what might happen already established for normal-size wind farms. in China. In order to streamline the environmental assessment J.3: Creating Bankable Projects procedure it is suggested that a master plan for the It is not known whether it is expected or intended to production of such a study be provided. It can be attract Western finance to the WPBs. There is some based on the best practice guidelines that have been merit in the argument that the bigger the project, the produced in Europe and can be suitably modified for more debt that can be attracted. Some banks are not application in China. interested in lending on projects of less than US$1 bil- lion. The availability of debt for very large projects has not J.2: Training hitherto been considered to be a problem; the advent of There is no doubt that if 10 GW of wind energy is installed the credit crunch may of course have a major effect on in a relatively concentrated way, that area will become the availability of Western funds. The availability of West- an industrial center. Such activity will initially attract con- ern debt for projects in China is a significant challenge, struction and manufacturing work. Later it will attract the unless some substantial changes are made to typical support industry required for ongoing O&M, including wind farm deals. 66 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power If Western finance is required, it is suggested that the • Full due diligence of insurance, technology and WPB projects be structured in such a way that allows legal aspects of the subproject the banks to assess their risk in a conventional fashion. • Creditworthy suppliers of all components They will have, at least, the following requirements: • Turbine supply and balance of plant contracts with adequate warranties • PPAs free from regulatory risk—no changes to • O&M agreements with performance-related pay- commercial terms after initiation of project ment clauses • PPA with adequate term (say 20 years) with cred- • Evidence of properly trained personnel itworthy offtaker • Adequate spare parts holdings • All permits in place for the full length of the PPA • No currency risk • Subprojects free from risk of interference from • Proper insurance other subprojects • Comprehensive construction and operation agree- • Proven technology ments; solid warranties from suppliers. Annex B–1 Introductory Guide to the Installation of Offshore Wind Farms This annex provides an overview of major steps involved Currently, the largest offshore turbines (Figure B1.1) have in the installation of an offshore wind farm. It includes rotors of more than 100 m in diameter, and the blade tip an overview of foundation types, installation vessels, can reach up to 150 m above the surface of the water. options for support structure installation, turbine installa- tion, and electrical systems. All offshore wind farm sites bring their own unique chal- lenges. The conditions shown in Figure B1.2 may be ideal An offshore wind farm is made up of a number of wind for offshore operations, but the capability must also be turbines, each placed on a robust foundation, and con- provided to operate in severe seas. Otherwise, weather nected by cables to the electrical grid. Installation of an downtime will be excessive, and the program will not be offshore wind farm requires a suite of installation vessels completed within a season. and tools, with a custom-made vessel required for the support structure, the wind turbine, and the cables. The solutions need to be customized to site conditions, and different wind farm design choices require different foundation, installation, and electrical solutions. Siemens 3.6 MW Wind Turbine Figure B1.1:  The presence of a competent, highly skilled workforce at Burbo Bank is crucial for operating the specialist vessels in the Figure B1.2: Gunfleet Sands, United Kingdom Source: Siemens press photo. Source: Andrew Henderson, Garrad Hassan. 67 68 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power challenging marine conditions that will invariably be faced offshore. Figure B1.4: Gravity Base Foundation 1. Foundation Types The installation of an offshore wind farm requires very different types of foundation from those onshore. The most common type used to date has been steel tubes, called monopiles, which are driven into the ground with a pile driver. The tube sizes needed to support a turbine in water depths of greater than 30 m become too large for the largest pile drivers in the world, and so tubular steel frameworks become the more economic option. These Source: Andrew Henderson, Garrad Hassan. come in a number of forms, for example, a four-legged structure called a jacket, which is also commonly used for offshore oil rigs. Other forms of foundations that are being used or seriously considered include tripods (Fig- the turbine without the need for anything other than ure B1.3) and quadropods, which have three or four legs, their self-weight. This approach naturally leads to very respectively, supporting a central tube, or a tripile foun- heavy structures, which require careful consideration dation, which is a structure consisting of three separate with respect to transport and installation. To reduce the piles with a connection piece located above the water. weight, they can be of a hollow design, and thus may be able to float. They would later be filled with ballast when In certain situations, concrete structures called a “grav- they are in place. ity base” (GB) (Figure B1.4) may be preferable for eco- nomic or practical reasons. They would generally not be The main disadvantage of GB structures is that they piled into the seabed, but they are so heavy and have require a lot of seabed preparation, offshore ballasting, such a wide base that they can support all the loads of and sometimes backfilling around the base. Foundation contractors prefer to keep offshore operations to a mini- mum in the onerous conditions found at most offshore wind farm sites. Hence, to date, most offshore wind GB Figure B1.3: Tripod Support Structure structures have been built in the calmer Baltic Sea, the exception being the Thornton Bank project off the Belgian coast. 2. Installation Vessels The favored installation vessel for both foundations and the wind turbines themselves is the jack-up crane-barge (Figure B1.5). This is a crane on a boat, which can jack itself out of the water. Effectively, the crane is on a stable platform, and the challenges of the excessive movement when floating on a rough sea are avoided. Specialist wind farm installation vessels are also avail- able, which are ships designed to include cranes, as well as jacking legs. They are self-propelled and can sail quickly between port and the offshore wind farm carrying foundations or turbines (Figure B1.6). Source: Andrew Henderson, Garrad Hassan. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 69 Figure B1.5: Jack-Up Crane-Barge: Sea Jack Specialist Installation Vessel: Figure B1.7:  The Svanen Source: A2Sea. Figure B1.6:  Specialist Wind Farm Installation Source: Ballast Needam Offshore. Vessel: The Resolution Figure B1.7 shows the Svanen working on a monopile installation with a red L-shaped pile-lifting tool, a pil- ing hammer to its right, and a yellow transition piece. Svanen means swan in Dutch, an apparent reference to the shape of the vessel. In addition to the installation vessels, there will be a large fleet of support vessels called the spread, for personnel transport, surveying, and transportation (Figure B1.8). For example, it may be uneconomic to use the large instal- Source: MPI Offshore Limited. lation vessels for transporting foundations and turbines from the mobilization port to the wind farm site. In that When very heavy lifts are needed, such as some offshore case, feeder barges are towed to the site using tugs, and substations, shear leg crane-barges are required. The sometimes jack-up barges are used, since this allows the crane is firmly attached to the structure of the barge and cannot rotate; it can only be raised or lowered. Although Figure B1.8: Transportation Barge Towed by there is a loss of flexibility, there is a greatly increased a Tug at Gunfleet Sands load-carrying capability. This type of vessel can lift many thousand tons. Finally, there is a group of vessels that will have been designed for a particular specialist project, and once that task has been completed can be modified to undertake other tasks, such as installing offshore wind farms. An example that is being used regularly for offshore wind farms is the Svanen. It can lift 8,700 t and was designed to install the Oresund Bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden. It has been found to be suitable to install both piled and gravity foundations, and has worked on a num- ber of wind farm foundations around the UK and Dutch coasts. Source: Chris Garrett, Garrad Hassan. 70 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power cargo to be lifted from a fixed platform, and the site can operate in a wider range of sea conditions than if heavy Piling Hammer (left) and Figure B1.10:  loads are lifted from a floating craft. Anvil/Adaptor Piece (right) 3. Support Structure Installation The monopiles are lifted into a frame on the installation vessel called a piling gate (Figure B1.9) and supported while the crane lifts the hammer on top. To avoid injury to dolphins, seals, and whales, an underwater loudspeaker system may be used to drive sea creatures away before piling starts. Hydraulic impact hammers (Figure B1.10) have been pre- ferred and are capable of driving piles of up to 6 or 7 m in diameter. If the ground conditions are particularly hard and the pile cannot be driven to its design depth, a drill will be used to remove some material before further attempts are made to drive the pile (Figure B1.11). This is called “drive-drill” installation. Great care must be taken with disposal of any cuttings from the center of the pile, since disposal of the “up-rising” can cause a plume of contaminated water. A number of pieces of secondary structures are required on each foundation, for example, boat fenders, electrical cable guides (called J tubes), access ladders, walkways, Source: Chris Garrett, Garrad Hassan. davits, navigation lights, transformers, and other sensi- tive equipment. These structures would impede pile driv- Figure B1.11: Reverse Circular Drill ing and could be damaged in the process. The solution is to fit a transition piece over the pile with all of these items prefitted and tested. This approach also allows final adjustment for verticality of the pile, using jacks, before it is grouted firmly. When the grout has been allowed to cure, the foundation is ready to receive the turbine tower. Figure B1.9: Monopile installation Source: Chris Leach, Noble Denton. Source: Chris Garrett, Garrad Hassan. Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 71 Figure B1.12: Heavy Lifting Crane Handling Figure B1.13: Installation of Wind Turbine Gravity Base Structure at Burbo Bank, United Kingdom Source: This image is used with the permission of Scaldis Salvage and Marine Contractors NV. GB support structures are installed using very different vessels, either a shear-leg barge or a specialist vessel, such as Eide 5, shown in Figure B1.12. The crane picks the GB off the barge and lowers the structure onto the carefully prepared seabed. 4. Turbine Installation The requirements of the crane for the installation of the turbines are somewhat different from those for the foun- Source: Siemens Press Photo. dations; hence, different vessels may be used. In particu- lar, the nacelles and blades need to be lifted to a great height above the water—beyond the normal capability of conventional offshore crane vessels (Figure B1.13). Many Figure B1.14: Installation of Wind Turbine at jack-up installation vessels have long legs, but it takes a Burbo Bank long time to jack up and it fatigues the expensive legs, so the better option is to use a crane with a lower lift capacity than the piling crane, possibly with an extended boom, called a fly jib, to further increase lift height and reach. Towers are in one or two sections. The main turbine unit is called the nacelle, which contains the gearbox and generator, the rotor hub, and the three blades, mean- ing that a large number of lifts may be required. Some of these components will be preassembled onshore in order to reduce the activity offshore. For example, two blades may be attached to the nacelle, after which this partly assembled turbine is raised in what is known as a Source: Siemens Press Photo. “bunny ears” lift, with the final blade being attached last. Figure B1.14 shows a single blade being lifted. 72 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power 5. Electrical System Turbines are usually connected in strings of 6 to 10 and are limited by the maximum capacity of the medium-voltage, If the wind farm is very large or far from the electrical interturbine array cables. The strings are then connected grid, an offshore substation may be needed to transform to an offshore substation (Figure B1.16). For smaller proj- the voltage from the wind turbine level (typically 33 kV) to ects, they are connected directly to land. From the sub- a level suitable for long-distance transmission. This would station, an HV high-capacity cable will deliver the power typically be around 132 kV, so that the electrical losses in to shore. the long export cable can be reduced. When the cable arrives on land, it often has to be buried HVDC connections are under serious consideration for for several kilometers in order to reach the nearest point some European projects. at which it can connect to the electricity grid. Offshore cables must be robust; hence, they are expen- sive specialist components. An AC connection consists Substation at Barrow Offshore Figure B1.16:  of three conductors (for the three-phase electricity gen- Wind Farm erated), together with a fiberoptic cable for the com- puter data communications and steel wire armoring for protection. All cables are buried under the seabed to ensure their protection, as well as safety, to mariners and fishermen. This can be undertaken with specialist plows that are towed across the seabed. They bury the cable and refill the trench as they proceed (Figure B1.15). Figure B1.15: Cable Laying Source: Centrica Energy. Source: Image courtesy of IHC Engineering Business Ltd. Annex B–2 Summary of Seabed Conditions and Foundation Options 73 74 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 75 76 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 77 78 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 79 80 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 81 82 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 83 84 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 85 86 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 87 88 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 89 90 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part B: Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China 91 92 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Source: Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited Roadmap. Part C Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China Section C–1 Technical Notes on Resource Assessment, Construction, and Grid Integration This section comprises three technical notes summarizing the messages emerging from the Workshop on Offshore Wind and Coastal Wind Base Development held in Beijing on January 15, 2009. Each section covers one of the three major topics discussed during parallel sessions of the workshop, namely: 1. Wind resource assessment and site screening. 2. Offshore wind farm construction technology. 3. Grid integration. The notes provide a summary of the discussions that took place during each session, focusing on the key concerns raised, and possible solutions. Although not an exhaustive list of all possible issues and solutions, the notes are intended to give the readers a sense of what issues were raised in the workshop, and what is being done in China and internationally to address the issues raised. These are followed by further technical guidance specific to those issues. Additional information and comprehensive discussion of issues not covered in these notes are available in Part B, Implementation Guidance for Offshore and Large-Scale Onshore Wind Power Development in China. 95 96 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Session on Wind Resource Assessment • Discussions at the workshop indicated that there is and Site Screening: Overview of limited, if any, cooperation or data sharing between the different entities that are in possession of infor- Workshop Presentations mation, including private entities, government agen- cies, and research institutes. Coastal and Offshore Wind Resource Assessment in China. • At present, in addition to the CMA’s efforts to under- Yang Zhenbin from the Chinese Academy of Meteoro- take wind resource assessments of specific areas, logical Sciences presented information on the ongo- the State Oceanic Administration, provincial fishery ing nation-wide wind resource assessment effort. He administrations, other provincial agencies, wind also discussed the results of a numerical simulation his power developers, oil platform owners, and so forth agency undertook to model wind resources in Jiangsu gather data on wind resource and ocean conditions coastal and offshore areas. Song Lili, of the China Meteo- in offshore areas. (Examples of activities focusing rological Administration (CMA), presented typhoon scale on wind resource assessment are presented in Box wind speed observation data and analyses on the risk C–1.) and frequency of typhoons for southeast China. Zhang • It was pointed out that the existing national techni- Xiuzhi, of the CMA, informed participants about the cal specifications for wind resource measurement coastal wind resource assessment effort and feasibility and assessments (GB/T 18709-2002 and GB/T study for a 100 MW offshore wind farm project off the 18110-2002) are considered to be rather general and coast of Jiangsu, both supported by the EU-China Energy insufficient for practical operation. At present, there and Environment Program. are no national specifications for assessment of off- shore wind resources. CMA plans to develop new Offshore Wind Resource Assessment and Site Selection: The technical specifications for that purpose. case of Jiangsu Dongtai project. Gao Hui, Chief Engineer, • Participants discussed the most efficient way to Guohua Energy Investment Company, presented the encourage private developers to contribute their data company’s experience with wind resource assessment to a possible public database for China’s offshore and site selection for wind power projects in Jiangsu wind resources. One of the possible options identi- Dongtai. Results from a wind resource measurement fied was the use of an incentive structure. Develop- effort in Jiangsu were also discussed. ers noted that, in the absence of such an incentive, there would be no reason to share data collected. Offshore Wind Resource Assessment and Site Selection: The Case of Fujian Province. Richard Boddington, from Sgurr Energy, discussed the example of an offshore wind farm Proposed solutions in Nanri Island and presented the step-by-step best prac- Participants concurred that the concerns identified could tice methodology that was developed for offshore wind be addressed by: resource assessment and site selection. • Establishing a national offshore wind resources Key Messages, Issues, and Solutions observation network and an offshore wind resource database for integrating data gathered by various The following subsection presents some perspectives, entities, under the leadership of NDRC or NEA issues, and solutions discussed during the workshop • Formulating standards specific to the measurement with respect to wind resource assessment and site of offshore wind energy resources and evaluation of screening. ocean conditions, such as sea level and wave height, including meteorological mast specifications that Quality and sharing of offshore wind resource data clearly lay out particular differences between on- and It was noted that at present there is a huge variation in offshore requirements terms of the means, tools, and quality of data collected • Developing guidelines for site selection for offshore on offshore wind resources and ocean conditions; data wind farms. across multiple sources are not comparable. Specific characteristics of the wind regime in • Participants expressed concern over the appar- coastal areas in southeast China ent fragmentation of offshore wind resource mea- • During the session, typhoons were identified as one surement, data collection, and analysis efforts and of the biggest barriers to coastal and offshore wind responsibilities. It was noted that this situation farm development in the coastal and offshore areas. results in redundancy of efforts and a waste of An analysis of the 50-year, three-second gusts along money and resources. Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 97 Box C–1: Wind Resource Assessment Efforts in China The following is a summary of examples of recent and ongoing activities in support of wind resource assessment in China. In addition to the activities outlined here, there are various efforts by universities, research institutes, pro- vincial meteorological bureaus, and wind farm developers to assess wind resources in various parts of the country. The efforts are undertaken at multiple levels, from very broad resource mapping to site-specific measurements and assessments tailored to the development of individual wind farms. • UNEP/NREL/GEF Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Southeast China. Between 1996 and 1999, the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored a wind resource assess- ment effort for specific regions of southeast China. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the American Wind Energy Association, which administered the activity on behalf of the EPA, lead the technical analysis and mapping activities. Data for the activity were collected with the assistance of the China Hydropower Planning General Institute (CHPGI) of the State Power Corporation. High-resolution wind resource maps were developed using a GIS-based program developed at NREL. • Wind resource mapping of onshore areas by CMA. Between 2005 and 2007 , CMA carried out an onshore wind resource extrapolation, based wind data collected on 10m height in 2,500 climate stations in 31 provinces. This activity resulted in the creation of a general wind energy resource map of China. Under the project, a prelimi- nary wind resource database was set up, and national “technical specifications” for wind resource measurement and assessments were formulated (GB/T 18709-2002 and GB/T 18110-2002). • New CMA activity for expanded measurement network, meso-scale modeling, and mapping. In 2007 the CMA, with support from MOF and NDRC, launched a meso-scale modeling and wind mapping effort based on data from a country-wide wind resource observation network. The network comprises all of CMA’s climate sta- tions and 400 masts to be built, with heights of 70 m, 100 m, and 120 m. The 400 new meteorological masts would be set up in areas with a minimum annual average wind power density 150 W/m2, measured at 10 m. The number and heights of masts to be set up in the coastal areas of Fujian, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang Provinces, as part of this activity, are as follows: • Fujian: 15 70 m masts and 3 100 m masts • Jiangsu: 12 70 m masts and 2 100 m masts • Zhejiang: 9 70 m masts, 2 100 m masts, and 1 120 m masts. The World Bank/GEF China Renewable Energy Scale-Up Program supports a series of provincial and site-spe- cific wind resource measurement and assessment activities in Fujian, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. Under the EU-China Energy Environment Programme, the Center for Wind and Solar Energy Resource Assess- ment (CWERA), of the National Climate Center under CMA, will be developing meso-scale models covering a 10,000 km stretch of coastline from Fujian to Shandong. This will be combined with satellite derived wind data and local wind measurements to produce a high-resolution wind map of an area 10 km inland and 30 km offshore from the coastline. As part of the Sino-Danish Wind Development Programme, CMA will work with Risoe to undertake meso-scale modeling and high-resolution wind mapping of Northeast China (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning). the Chinese coast was presented by the CMA. In According to the analyses, there has been very lim- this analysis on the risk and frequency of typhoons, ited occurrence of typhoons north of the Yangtze it was found that only the east coast of Hainan Island River, making the area suitable for offshore wind and a few isolated parts of the coast of Fujian Prov- power development. Nevertheless, it was stressed ince experienced wind speed values in excess of that this analysis is not comprehensive, and further 70 m/s, which is equivalent to IEC Class I turbines. studies and measurements are required. 98 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power • Fast-changing, twisted wind shear profiles com- time frame; and the developers should be made aware bined with sudden changes in wind direction and that they risk losing that priority in case they fail to meet flow inclination common in typhoon situations will either of the commitments. create additional loading on the turbines; therefore, some areas that exhibit 50-year gusts of less than 70 Government guidance for offshore resource measure- m/s may still be unsuitable even for Class I turbines. ment standards would be useful. The measurement In fact, in the areas in question, although average standards for offshore wind energy resources and ocean wind speeds are within IEC design classes, there conditions, which session participants requested the have been cases where the extreme wind speeds government to develop, should provide guidance on the during typhoons led to turbine damages in wind scope and means of measurements.11 The establishment farms. of standards for measurement by the government could • A recommendation was made to install 100m and also help reduce the cost of offshore measurement 120m masts in these areas to measure the shear masts for investors, by identifying items that absolutely across the rotor disc. need to be measured. • In the case of coastal Jiangsu, findings from a recent measurements carried out by an investor indicated It was evident from the session that step-by-step guid- that offshore wind speeds in Jiangsu are 1.3 to 1.5 ance on site selection for offshore wind farm develop- times faster than onshore. Moreover, it was noted ment is of interest for the parties involved. In addition that wind speeds appeared to increase the most to the “roadmap” prepared by Garrad Hassan and Part- within 20 km of the coastline, and more or less sta- ners Limited, international examples of required steps in bilized beyond 20 km from the coast. offshore wind farm site selection and development are available and could be a useful input to the preparation Large Wind Farm Wakes of such guidance. It was stressed that additional high wake effects not modeled by traditional wake modeling software pack- ages have been noted in large offshore projects in Further Considerations Europe. It was noted that this effect is currently not well In addition to the recommendations made during the understood and R&D is ongoing. workshop, some lessons from international experience are important for wind resource assessment and site selection. Though not fully covered during the workshop, Conclusions the consideration of these aspects will be useful as China The most prominent conclusion that emerged from the moves forward and decision makers identify solutions to session was the importance of the availability and quality issues encountered. These are discussed below. of wind resource data. It is evident that it will be use- ful to create a mechanism for data sharing, whereby the Data collection and monitoring are vital for the accurate owners of the data will be compensated for their contri- assessment of wind resources at a site and determination of bution, after which the data will be accessible to all inter- energy production from a possible wind farm. A robust on- ested parties. This may form a good basis for a high-level site monitoring campaign with well-instrumented hub study on the wind power potential for the coastal areas. height masts remains of paramount importance for an Establishment of an offshore database of measurements accurate energy assessment of a specific wind farm to spread along the coast of China will provide a strong be undertaken. resource for calibrating a meso-scale wind map. • The choice of mast type, height and setup, and mea- An important aspect will be to identify the most appropri- surement equipment, and selection of the number ate way to give private developers an incentive to contrib- and location of meteorological masts, are essen- ute their data to this platform. Of the options discussed tial components for enabling detailed and accurate during the session, creation of an incentive for data shar- assessment of the wind and energy resource of ing could be explored further. However, it is essential that any development priority given to a private party 11. For instance, these standards could require involved parties to be accompanied by an obligation to make data available record wind speeds at heights of 10 meters, 40 meters, 80 meters, and proceed with development within an agreed-upon and 100 meters. Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 99 the site. Conducting measurements at hub height It is important to undertake specific work to understand the is strongly advisable, given the small relative extra average and extreme wind characteristics in likely sites, par- cost of choosing a tall mast, compared to the overall ticularly in southeastern coastal regions where typhoons have cost of installing a mast offshore. been observed. Standard storm extreme design load cases • Satellite data, combined with meso-scale modeling, for wind turbines assume that the turbine yaw system can give a sense of relative wind speeds, though not will be in operation. This means that a turbine will, at least as accurate as actual measurements and monitoring to some extent, track changes in wind direction, and that at a site. the spectral, temporal, and spatial characteristics of tur- • In addition, wind flow modeling over larger distances, bulence are assumed to be the same as for normal oper- up to 10 km between mast and turbine locations, is ating conditions. For typhoons, it is likely that changes in acceptable for sites that are far offshore.12 wind direction occur rapidly enough for the yaw system • Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) remote sens- to be “caught out. ” Therefore, extreme conditions for all ing systems, as discussed during the workshop, do wind directions (and possibly coherent changes in direc- present some clear advantages over traditional cup tion) should be considered. It is also possible that the anemometers mounted on a measurement mast, spectral, spatial, and temporal characteristics of typhoon such as ease of relocation, ability to measure at a winds are different from those assumed for normal oper- large number of heights, and, in the case of some ating conditions. As a result, although analyses indicate new systems under development, the ability to map a low incidence of 50-year extreme wind speeds along a number of potential turbine locations from the the coast of China in excess of 70 m per second, specific same position due to a moveable beam.13 However, work should be undertaken to understand the wind char- current disadvantages of LIDAR systems include acteristics in detail (both mean and extreme) in the likely high costs, high power requirements, difficulty in wind farm sites. remote locations, lack of validation data for most options on the market, and security issues. Even the Underprediction of wake effects by models needs to be most established LIDAR systems available at pres- recognized and should be carefully considered. Valida- ent have been validated only in certain operational tion of wake loss models against actual production from conditions. At present, devices whereby a number large offshore projects indicates that wake loss mod- of turbine locations can be monitored from a single els are underpredicting the actual wake impacts under stationary point, or motion-sensitive devices for some scenarios; and the reasons for this deviation are allowing the LIDAR systems to be floated offshore, the subject of significant ongoing debate. With regard to are far from providing a realistic commercial alter- onshore wind farms, it is difficult to differentiate wind native to standard wind monitoring methodologies. speed changes due to wake effects from those due to Nevertheless, LIDAR will play a very important role terrain effects. Therefore, the quality of the datasets in the future wind measurements globally and will available for validation of wake effects for large onshore be particularly powerful when used in combination is lower. It is likely that the mechanisms that are causing with conventional anemometry masts. under-prediction of wake effects for large offshore wind farms will also be experienced for large onshore wind Continued monitoring after wind farm construction is criti- farms, at least to a certain degree. This effect is more cal. There is need for reliable long-term meteorological likely to occur where the surface roughness and ambient masts in wake-free locations to be left in place close to turbulence are both low, as is the case for many large wind farms, subsequent to their construction and com- planned onshore developments within northern China. missioning in order to allow a consistent source of refer- Additional wake effects are generally observed for tur- ence data to be available for postconstruction operational bines with at least five rows of upwind turbines. Since energy analyses to be undertaken. many planned developments in China are an order of magnitude larger than even the wind farms used as the basis for these investigations, the potential for increased 12. The definitive standard for the mounting of anemometry and wake effects is likely to be high and should be carefully wind vanes on wind measurement masts is currently provided in the relevant IEC Standards. (IEC 61400-12-1, “Wind turbines—Part considered when reviewing the predicted energy yield of 12–1: Power Performance Measurements of Electricity Producing large wind farms. Wind Turbines, Annex G, ” 2005). 13. In addition, LIDAR systems can monitor only one location at any given time. Additional calibrations are being actively pursued. 100 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Session on Offshore Wind Farm Proposed construction approach of an intertidal wind farm. Construction Wang Xinming from SANY Heavy Industry Co. presented the company’s approach for the construction of an envis- The topics discussed during the session included inter- aged intertidal wind farm in Jiangsu Province. His pre- national experience with offshore wind farm construction sentation included an analysis of geographic conditions, and installation, offshore wind turbine foundation design construction challenges and possible solutions. and certification, an overview of the proposed method- ology for the construction of an intertidal wind farm in A developer’s perspective on intertidal wind power develop- Jiangsu Province, and Longyuan Electric Power Group’s ment. Longyuan Power Corporation’s representative pre- strategy for coastal offshore wind farm development. sented the company’s plans for intertidal and offshore wind farm development. Review of internationally adopted construction methods. Andrew Garrad, from Garrad Hassan and Partners Lim- Key Messages, Issues, and Solutions ited, provided a detailed overview of construction and installation methods for offshore wind farms. The pre- The presentation by Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited sentation covered information on options for equipment provided a technical overview of the various options for transport and logistics, support structure setup, wind offshore wind farm construction methods. The key mes- turbine assembly, subsea cable installation, substation sages from Mr. Garrad’s presentation on options for off- setup, and vessels. shore wind farm construction methods are summarized below: Offshore wind turbine foundation design and design certifica- tion. Zhang Yu from the China General Certification Cen- • The choice of offshore foundation is determined by ter made a presentation on internationally used offshore seabed conditions and water depth. (Various founda- wind turbine foundation design approaches, followed by tion options are illustrated in Figure C1.1.) a discussion of the certification processes. Figure C1–1: Foundation Options Increasing water depth Gravity Monopile Multipod Jacket Suction bucket Floating • Offshore foundation is determined by the seabed condition and the water depth. • Currently gravity and monopile are the most frequently used options. Source: Presentation by Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited. Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 101 • Choice of method for transporting components and • The company identified the following as work- equipment depends on the physical dimensions of able options for intertidal wind farm construction: tower/nacelle/blade and the closeness of fabrication amphibian multiped rail vehicle, flexible crawling to port. crane, aerial floating pile driver, and small removable • The installation sequence begins with the founda- platform. tion, followed by the transition piece, the two sec- • The presentation was based on the use of a 1.5 MW tions of the tower, and nacelle and blade assembly. turbine. The envisaged foundations include multiple • Installation of subsea cable and substation is also piles with a concrete cap. Foundation is designed as part of offshore wind farm construction. multipod, PHC tube pile is used to match the wind • Vessels and other construction equipment are turbines. critical. • The central component of the design is a large vehicle with four independent crawlers with a maxi- The presentation by the China General Certification Cen- mum weight of 200 tons. On the crawler vehicle is ter also provided an overview of foundation options, mounted an extendable crane that can lift the vari- outlined aspects of foundation design, and emphasized ous wind turbine components and the pile driver. the role certification can play in the process. Mr. Zhang Concrete for the foundation is pumped from the pointed out that: shore. The turbines are delivered to the specific loca- tions in separate lots: one assembled three-bladed • The selection of wind turbine should be taken into rotor, the tower divided into three sections, and the account during foundation design. assembled nacelle. The crawler-mounted crane can • Foundation design certification (including site assess- lift these elements individually. ment, load assessment, structure strength assess- • It was clear that much work had been done on the ment, load reassessment, anticorrosion design, and subject and the process can be considered to be anti-erosion design) can help ensure the quality of well advanced and at the end of the outlined design foundation design and reduce the investment risk. stage. • Proper attention needs to be paid to O&M proce- dures to be adopted after construction. Longyuan’s plans for intertidal wind farm development Longyuan Power Corporation, a major wind farm devel- Current thinking in terms of intertidal wind farm oper and a subsidiary of the State Power Corporation, construction methods outlined the challenges of offshore wind farm develop- • Wang Xinming, from SANY Heavy Industry Com- ment from a developer’s perspective. These included pany, presented the company’s design for construc- high construction cost and risk, higher requirement for tion of the construction of an intertidal wind farm. wind turbine, the limited number of mature Chinese- His presentation included an analysis of geographic made wind turbines, and increased difficulty of O&M. conditions, construction challenges, and possible solutions. As part of a discussion of the company’s development • During the presentation by SANY, transportation plan and current work, it was pointed out that the State and storage of materials, vessels, and compo- Power Corporation views intertidal development as a nents; installation of foundation and wind turbine; starting point for offshore development and plans to go and anticorrosion of materials were identified as to offshore after the intertidal scale-up development. This primary technical difficulties of intertidal wind farm choice appears to stem from the belief that this approach construction. would enable the company to reduce risks to some • In view of the features of the tidal range, the inter- extent and to establish a foundation for offshore wind tidal zone was classified into two parts: farm development. However, Longyuan representatives 1. “Area I” is characterized by high tide water acknowledge the fact that there are no mature examples levels of between 0.5 and 2.5 m—where the of intertidal wind farm development. length of time without water is long enough to enable the use of amphibian equipment as the The State Power Corporation plans an intertidal wind farm preferred option. demonstration project in Jiangsu. So far, the company 2. “Area II” is characterized by high tide water lev- has completed wind resource measurement, environ- els of 2.5 to 7.0 m, and the period of time where mental assessments, wind farm development planning, the seabed is submerged under water is long; intertidal construction method research, and verification therefore, offshore equipment is preferable. of key technical parameters for construction. It was also 102 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power noted that the company drafted “Engineering Specifica- information about either the wind or the soil conditions tions for Offshore Wind Farm Construction. ” offshore. There is consensus that the soils data within the intertidal region vary considerably. Therefore, it seems entirely plausible that adequate strength is available in Conclusions and Further Considerations some locations. There should be a central mechanism for Currently, intertidal wind farm development is the focus of gathering these data as described in the “roadmap. ” It attention. Presentations by Chinese speakers in the ses- appears that the development of technical guidance and sion on offshore wind farm construction technology standards for offshore wind farm construction will be focused primarily on intertidal development, rather than appreciated by the parties involved. “true offshore” development. Development of vessels and other equipment to respond to the Intertidal development should be encouraged since the poten- particular conditions of intertidal areas is crucial. The out- tial for wind energy in these areas is huge, provided that a line design that was presented for the intertidal devel- reliable economic means of construction can be developed. opments is of considerable interest. Although it was There is no useful precedent for this type of develop- not possible to gain a real insight into the work, due to ment elsewhere in the world. During this session, there limited time during the session, it was clear that work was no presentation from the only active offshore proj- done is rather advanced and has been professionally con- ect, that is, the Shanghai Donghai bridge project. It would ducted. The conclusion that the crawler vehicles can be be useful if the lessons learned from the Shanghai Dong- used was somewhat surprising; however, this reluctance hai project’s experience were shared by the interested about the validity of that method is based on the very parties. limited soils data that were publicly available. Work on these technologies should be started as soon as possi- There needs to be further preparatory work to gather data ble. In view of possible challenges, government support about site conditions, in order to identify the most appropriate will be necessary to mitigate the risks associated with construction techniques. Site conditions remain a matter the process and share the costs of preliminary develop- of the utmost importance if developments are to take ment efforts. place in a sensible fashion. To date there is little, if any, Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 103 Session on Grid Integration wind power penetration in southern Alberta. He pre- sented detailed methodologies to assess and analyze Presentations during the session on grid integration cov- the operational impacts of wind power variability and ered a range of subjects, including technical issues, chal- uncertainty and related mitigation measures. lenges, and solutions for grid integration of wind farms, as well as overview of international experience and pre- Key Messages, Issues, and Solutions liminary plans for grid integration of large wind farms in China. From the session, it was evident that sector participants and decision makers were aware of the range of techni- Challenges and solutions for grid integration of wind power in cal issues associated with grid connection and integra- China. Wang Weisheng, of China Electric Power Research tion of large wind power capacity. The issues identified Institute (CEPRI) under the State Grid Corporation, out- included: achieving transmission planning to match the lined the issues for grid integration of wind power in pace of wind farm development; optimal solutions for China from the perspective of the transmission system, connecting wind farms to the grid; the availability of bal- conventional power producers, wind turbine manufactur- ancing services to addressing variability and limited pre- ers, and wind farm developers. Dr. Wang also presented dictability of wind power; and reactive power control. a range of technical and policy solutions to resolve pos- sible issues. The general conclusion was that the technical issues that were identified during the workshop are generally the Preliminary plans for grid integration of large wind farms in same issues found on other national electricity systems China: The case of Northwest Wind Power Base. Yi Linong, of with high wind penetration, and technical solutions are the Northwest Grid Company, presented technical issues, available for the anticipated issues. In other words, none possible solutions, and overall plans for wind power inte- of these issues is insurmountable. It is worth noting that, gration in northwest China, where large projects are con- as technical issues become more complex, solutions centrated in certain areas and necessitate power transfer become more expensive (Box C–2). over long distances (greater than 1,000 km).  olutions for Grid Integration of Box C–2: S Preliminary plans for grid integration of large wind farms in Wind Farms China: The case of Jiangsu coastal WPB. Zhang Pu Zhuan, the Deputy Director of the Planning Department of the Possible solutions to ensure increased wind power State Grid, reaffirmed State Grid Company’s commit- penetration have been widely recorded in recent pub- ment to addressing the challenges associated with grid lications. Options for addressing wind power impacts integration of large wind farms. Wang Ya Li, Senior Engi- on the grid, arising from its variability and limited pre- neer in the Planning Department, provided a review of dictability, include: State Grid Company’s work on grid integration of wind power and presented a study on preliminary plans for the • Transmission network upgrades to accommodate grid integration of the 10 GW WPB in the coastal area of the incremental output and assist with issues such Jiangsu Province. as voltage control • Satisfactory reactive power control achieved with European experience in grid integration of wind power. Paul conventional solutions Gardner, of Garrad Hassan and Partners Limited, pre- • Balancing provided by other generators sented the European experience with grid connection • Geographic aggregation of wind farms, that is, and integration of offshore wind farms. In his presenta- spreading wind farms widely across the available tion, Mr. Gardner discussed technical aspects of grid con- area in order to reduce the variability of the total nection of offshore wind farms, as well as issues, costs, output power and risks associated with the operation of a system with • Improved control of wind farms both on local and large amounts of wind power penetration. system levels • Introduction of specific grid code requirements for Learning from international experience: The case of grid inte- wind farms, such as low voltage ride through gration of wind power in Alberta, Canada. Hu Ming, of the • Forecasting, monitoring, and communication tech- Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) in Canada, pre- nologies. sented AESO’s experience with preparing for grid inte- gration of wind power. Mr. Hu discussed the scope and ” Source: European Wind Energy Association, “Wind Energy: the Facts. findings of studies on the possible effects of increasing 104 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power The following subsection presents some of the perspec- • The provision of balancing power was reported tives and solutions discussed during the workshop with as a possible problem in the presentation by the respect to grid connection and grid integration of wind Alberta Electricity System Operator. The experience power. in Alberta showed that the standard accuracy met- rics used to describe forecast performance may not Power transmission planning be applicable or meaningful to system operations. • The problem of achieving transmission planning and Errors in short-term forecasts could have a large constructing the reinforcements within the same effect on system balancing costs, as the uncer- timeframe as wind farm development was recog- tainty also impacts the ability to forecast the sys- nized by multiple parties. tem balancing requirements and identify adequate • State Grid Company representatives reaffirmed the resources to provide balancing. These characteris- company’s commitment to undertake the prepara- tics indicate that there may be need for changes to tory work to ensure that the transmission system existing operating policies and procedures and the meets the needs of large-scale wind power develop- way real-time operating decisions are made. AESO ment. The company plans to make major network developed a simulation model to assess the impacts extensions and reinforcements where necessary, of large wind capacity on the operation of its power and intends to strengthen its network development system and evaluate various mitigation measures planning activities to keep up with the rate of wind such as wind power forecasting, use of more flex- power development. ible generation resources, greater use of ancillary • The large WPBs are concentrated in areas that are services, and wind power management. rather far from load centers, necessitating the trans- • In the case of the Northwest Grid Company, par- mission of a large volume of output over long dis- ticular concerns reported were: 1) output power tances and at high voltages. Work is under way for fluctuations, in a setting where balancing was likely the development of a substantial 750 kV line from to be difficult due to limited availability of balancing the western China to the load centers on the east capacity from existing conventional generation, and coast. Although the 750 kV line is not being built 2) reactive power control. Northwest Grid Company specifically for transmission of wind power, it is is considering hydropower generation in the area as expected to be useful in transmitting the output of a way to address the balancing concerns. The com- the large WPBs from the northwest. pany intends to put in place a system for obtaining real-time data from wind farms, and integrate that Optimal solutions for connection of wind farms information with forecasting and operational deci- • State Grid Company plans to connect different wind sion-making tools. farms to different voltage levels, according to their • In the case of the European experience in offshore scale. wind power grid integration, the principal technical • For example, in the case of the coastal WPB in solutions included transmission reinforcement and Jiangsu Province, the dispersed onshore wind farms curtailment of wind generation at critical periods. built earlier can integrate into local 220 kV networks, Some countries, such as Denmark, chose to address while a portion of the offshore farms to be devel- the issue by selling surplus wind power output to oped can be connected to the 220 kV network; the other countries and purchasing power in times of rest can be connected to the “super grid” at a volt- shortage. On isolated systems, it may be satisfac- age above 500 kV. tory to reduce the wind generation output during • State Grid Company also investigates the feasibil- critical periods. ity and potential benefits of “bundling” wind power generation with other conventional power genera- tion, in order to improve the capacity factor of long- Conclusions and Further Considerations distance transmission. It appears that the right issues are being addressed, and that there is reasonable knowledge of experience abroad. It is Addressing the variability and limited predictability clear that the potential technical problems of grid integra- of wind power tion of proposed wind developments have been acknowl- • The parties understand that the uncertainty of wind edged. The following paragraphs provide key conclusions power leads to difficulty in predicting the power out- and additional technical guidance on a select set of issues put of wind farms. that will be important going forward. Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 105 It will be important to give further thought to the optimization measures, as more potential mitigation measures are of the size of wind farm connections. For onshore WPBs, needed to cover both magnitude forecast error and time there may be scope for economic optimization of the forecast error. One implication of the variability and fore- network reinforcements. For example, further study may cast uncertainty is that existing operating practices may show that it is not essential to provide network capacity need to be changed. equivalent to the full output of the wind farm, in light of the fact that the wind farms will rarely achieve full Early experience with short-term forecasting (STF) is essen- output. Rated power is achieved at relatively high wind tial for China and should be initiated immediately in pilot speeds that do not occur frequently. For example, 1,000 projects. Experience in Spain, the United Kingdom, Texas, MW of wind generation nameplate capacity is likely to Denmark and Germany has shown that useful short-term get a 1,000 MW connection, which may never be used forecasts can be obtained. It appears sensible to extend to full capacity. One important factor is that, at present in the work on options for providing system balancing to Europe, offshore projects are developed in isolation from be studied in the context of different locations in China. other projects, and hence it is difficult to achieve opti- This could include analyses of the effect of forecasting mized network connections. For example, it is difficult to uncertainty. It is important to define the best approach arrange for one submarine cable to serve two separate to assess the impact of STF on system dispatch in China projects. This may be easier in China. There was a gen- and developing local capacity in this field. The experience eral anticipation that the offshore grid would be centrally by AESO during its STF pilot study indicates that “learn- provided. ing by doing” is the best and most efficient way to build capacity in this field. It is therefore recommended to Further study will be necessary to identify the best connection initiate the work on STF as soon as possible. There are methods. The best connection methods for offshore wind well-established companies that provide STF services farms and intertidal wind have not been established. internationally. Using one of these services, instead of European practice will be relevant, but local factors (such designing and developing from scratch, is likely to save as availability of suitable vessels, project size, and loca- China some valuable time. tion offshore) will be important. For the intertidal wind farm concept, grid connection should be easier than for It will be critical to put in place a mechanism by which knowl- offshore installations, but there is no equivalent experi- edge of costs of various measures is fed back into decision ence elsewhere from which to learn. With respect to making. Going forward, while making decisions about offshore wind farms, there are advantages in avoiding project size and location, it will be important to take into offshore substations for wind farms closer to the shore, account the financial costs of transmission reinforce- particularly for those that are smaller in size, although ment and other issues, such as reactive power compen- offshore substations may still be necessary for large off- sation equipment, balancing services provided by hydro shore projects. Transmission cable to shore is one of the and thermal power generation, and losses. In the case of major risk and cost item for an offshore wind project. The Alberta, AESO set up a wind power integration market layout and construction are influenced mainly by seabed and operation framework to clarify the responsibility and conditions, especially the nearest hundreds of meters to cost allocation among related parties shore. Burial of the transmission cable under the seabed appears to be the best protection. Further information exchange, specifically on system opera- tion experience, will be beneficial. Information exchange In thinking about system operation with high wind penetra- and cooperation between policy makers, research insti- tion, the recognition of the uncertainty of short-term forecasts tutes, and those who actually operate the power systems is critical. Forecasting of wind power output variabil- are critical in ensuring the success of wind power devel- ity is critical to wind power integration, particularly for opment program. The setting up of a continuous platform large wind farms. For instance, the studies presented by for information exchange would provide the opportunity Mr. Hu showed that, in the case of the Alberta power to review the success of the current strategies. system, which has a high load factor and relatively little flexible generation, the rate-of-change of power output Arrangements for covering the additional cost of increased from wind generation could become a problem at high wind power penetration will need to be identified. Respon- levels of wind power penetration. It was also found sibilities for costs and construction of grid upgrades and that the uncertainty in short-term forecasts could have other measures taken to accommodate new wind power a big impact on the efficiency of potential mitigation capacity should be clear. 106 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Further Reading R. J. Barthelmie and others. “Flow in wakes and complex ter- rain and offshore: Model Development and verification in Wind Resource Assessment Handbook, National Renewable UPWIND. ” EWEC 2007. Energy Laboratory. Johnson, C., A. Tindal, M. LeBlanc, A. Graves, and K. Harman. The American Wind Energy Association’s “10 Steps in Building Validation of GH North American energy predictions by a Wind Farm.” http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets/10stwf_ comparison to actual production, 2008 AWEA WINDPOWER fs.pdf. Conference, June 2008. “Fujian Offshore Wind Resource Assessment and Site Selec- European Wind Energy Association. Wind Energy: The Facts. tion Methodology. ” Presented during the workshop by Sgurr http://www.wind-energy-the-facts.org//. Energy, available at www.cresp.org.cn. IEC 61400-12-1. “Wind turbines—Part 12–1: Power perfor- mance measurements of electricity producing wind turbines, Annex G.” 2005. Section C–2 World Bank Presentation at the Workshop 107 108 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 109 110 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 111 112 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 113 114 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 115 116 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Section C–3 Closing Address at the Offshore Wind and Coastal Large Wind Power Base Development Workshop Shi Lishan, Deputy Director General, NEA January 15, 2009 has resulted in serious climate change problems. Fac- ing the energy and environmental challenges becomes Ladies and Gentlemen: a task of all human societies. Currently, fast-growing renewable energy utilizations can be a common interest After one day of plenary presentations and sessions, for coping with energy shortage and pollution. As one of the Offshore Wind and Coastal Large Wind Power Base the most matured renewable energy technologies, wind Development Workshop has completed its agenda and power is considered a promising solution by all countries. achieved expected results. This is a successful, practi- So far, the installed wind power capacity in the world has cal, and efficient workshop. From international keynote been more than 120 GW, which has played a significant speakers and session exchanges, we have gained better role in world power supplies. Offshore wind, because of knowledge on offshore wind power histories, technology its sustainable resources and higher working hours and development status and development trends, challenges, less environmental effect, will have great potential. China and experiences and lessons. This will help us for better must pay more attention to offshore wind development planning and project development in China. In particular, in the future energy strategies. the NDRC vice chairman Zhang Guobao’s presence and his important address proposed clear information on off- However, compared with onshore wind technologies, shore development in China. Based on the presentations offshore wind has more complicated working conditions and discussions, I would like to make the following clos- and tougher technical requirement and is more difficult ing remarks. to install. All these will bring new challenges in turbine manufacturing, project construction, operation, and man- Fully aware of importance and challenges of offshore wind agement. Offshore wind is not just a copy of onshore Energy is one of the most important necessities for eco- technologies. We must fully be aware of challenges by nomic development. It is estimated that since industrial- examining international experiences and learning les- ization, the growth rate of energy consumptions is faster sons in offshore project development. Based on offshore than that of population. So far, about 16 billion tons of project characteristics in China, R&D should be strength- coal-equivalent energy is consumed in the world each ened, particularly in manufacturing, foundation design year, but only about 15 percent of the population enjoys and instruction, turbine transportation and installation, the results of industrialization. Along with an increase in power grid connection, and management techniques. the speed of the pace of industrialization in developing All these are new to offshore wind. Therefore, pilot and countries, global energy consumption will continue to demonstration can be necessary to promote offshore in grow. In particular, excessive consumption of fossil fuel China in an active and planned approach. 117 118 China: Meeting the Challenges of Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Power Pay more attention to offshore planning and regulations in our management, innovative adminis- Offshore project planning and preparation can be more tration will be more important, so that some constraints challenging than onshore wind because of many compli- should be removed for a innovative approach for offshore cated variables such as coastal land uses for harbor, navi- development in China. We must study and work out a gation channel, tantu farming, and inning land. There are better offshore program. also environmental protection issues to be considered.14 Hence, offshore planning must have a methodology and In order to implement the government support to renew- procedure. Otherwise, the plans may be very diverse. In able energy technologies, in particular offshore, for a addition, offshore development involves many adminis- better investment channel, a regulated and coordinated trative departments, which requires good coordination. management, and a favorable offshore wind environ- The discussed guidelines for offshore base planning ment, a system of offshore management regulations today have identified planning activity principles, work- must be formulated and implemented by and for rel- ing methods, affecting factors, authorities, and responsi- evant authorities. To be effective and efficient, I would bilities. It can be a basis for regulating offshore planning like to suggest that the China Hydropower Engineering activities. Based on the discussions during the workshop, Consulting Group Co can work out a draft document for it will be further improved and published in the form of management regulations based on the workshop conclu- workshop conclusions. sions. After broad consultation, a final proposal will be submitted. After this workshop, I would suggest that the coastal pro- vincial government carry out studies on offshore planning Promptly start several demonstration projects by fully considering local resource characteristics. Only Favorable wind resource development conditions can be through thorough studies can a good plan be worked seen at Jiangsu coastal tantu and ocean areas with great out. In 2003, for example, when we started to assess potential for power generation and with ready grid and wind resources, a number of provinces, including Gui- large-scale wind energy infrastructures. In recent years, zhou and Yunnan, said they did not have enough wind China’s wind power development projects have gained resources and were reluctant to conduct wind assess- rich experience. Onshore and offshore wind power at ment activities. However, after a certain period of hard Jiangsu coastal tantu areas have achieved significant work, they changed their minds and now wind farms are progress, which also established good conditions for working well in these provinces. I do hope through this deeper-water projects. In particular, the Shanghai Dong- workshop that relevant provincial authorities will see the hai Bridge started the 100 MW offshore wind project. importance and act immediately in making work plans for Three-megawatt offshore wind turbines have been suc- promoting offshore wind projects. cessfully tested by Dalian Sinovel. These successful projects will contribute to the scale-up of offshore devel- Offshore wind project management regulations must be opment in China. In addition, offshore wind resource formulated and implemented assessment facilities have been established, and site Today, we proposed a draft of management regula- investigation and project plans have been conducted by tions on wind farm project land use and environmental some major renewable energy companies in Jiangsu in management. Our purpose is to provide a flexible and the past years. It is imperative, therefore, to start several transparent management environment for wind power common, recognized demonstration projects at some development. Since offshore is a very new sector, strong selected sites. support will be necessary. During the discussions, some practical suggestions were proposed by administrative Ladies and gentlemen, offshore wind is a new area of bodies according to current legal and regulation frame- development for China. We have very limited experience works. At the same time, I feel that the support to the in either technologies or solutions of many problems. new renewable energy sector should be more flexible. Ocean resources cannot only be used for offshore wind, Currently, a scientific outlook for development program but for many other purposes, such as land resources, is in practice in China. The critical points of the program transportation, harbors, and fisheries. Today’s workshop are to explore new ideas, reform, and innovation. There- has been important for learning about international best fore, while we are following the renewable energy laws practice in offshore development and discussing China’s 14. Tantu is a reclaimed land zone. Part C: Messages from the Workshop on Offshore and Intertidal Wind Power Development in China 119 strategies for offshore wind power. It has been a valuable Finally, representing the National Energy Administration, face-to-face exchange. I believe it is good for everybody. I would like to take this opportunity to thank international I hope that after the workshop, central and local govern- experts and experts from the World Bank, all workshop ment agencies will study offshore wind development in participants, and workshop organizers. My best wishes long-term and strategic provisions. Let us work together to you all for a happy Chinese New Year! to make China’s offshore wind development successful. The World Bank The World Bank Group Asia Sustainable and Alternative Energy Program 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 USA www.worldbank.org/astae