China's Disruptive Renewable Energy

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Leslie Hook and Ed Crooks, The Way the World Turns; China's rush into renewables; A Beijing-inspired drive to go green has hit prospects of western companies in wind and solar power but now faces its own set of market difficulties. Financial Times, Nov 29, 2011.


Quote:

"Ten years ago, the smoggy plains of Baoding were known mostly for producing donkey meat. Today, the city just to the south-west of Beijing has a different reputation--as the torchbearer for China's solar panel industry, whcih has become the largest in the world.

"Two Chinese companies, Sinovel and Xinjiang Goldwind, now rank among the world's three largest wind turbine manufacturers by megawatts of capacity sold (Vestas of Denmark is the other.)

In solar photovoltaic modules "seven of the world's 10 top manufacturers are Chinese. These include LDK Solar, Suntech Power, Yingli and Trina Solar. In 2007, there were just two in the top 10. Many of China's wind and solar chief executives are among the country's richest men.

"'We haven't seen any concrete evidence of Chinese solar firms getting land for free or getting cheaper loans [than other industries],' says Nipun Sharma at Mirae Asset Securities in Hong Kong. 'The main reason behind their cost structure is economies of scale, and the flexibility in labour costs and also that of raw materials.'

"Whatever its elements, the approach brought about a sea change not just in China but around the world. The 'China price' for solar panels and wind turbines has upendedthe economies of renewable energy. The cost of a wind turbine today is roughly one-third of what it was in 2007, while solar panels have fallen about 4 per cent in the past year alone.

"Cheaper panels have been a gift to renewable power generators, bringing their costs down to the point where they can compete against coal- or gas-fired plants in some parts fo teh world. Wind turbine makers have also benefited from sourcing components in China. 'Today our end products are getting cheaper, thanks to China,' says Wolfgang Jussen, the China chief executive of Repower, a German turbine maker. 'China was a game-changer.'


My comment:
(a) Sinovel  华锐风电
www.sinovel.com
(b) Xinjiang Goldwind  新疆 金风 科技股份有限公司
www.goldwind.cn
(c) LDK Solar  江西赛维 LDK太阳能高科技有限公司
www.ldksolar.com
(d) Yingli Solar  英利绿色能源
www.yinglisolar.com
(e) Trina Solar  常州 天合光能有限公司
www.trinasolar.com
(f) The subtitles promises China's difficulties but does not really dilivers. The report only says:

"The biggest wind companies are closely linked to teh state [meaning state-owned]. * * * Premier Wen Jiaboa's osn Winston co-founded a fund that was a significant  investor in bothSinovel and Goldwind

"One wind farm developer descrbes how the bidding process for some wind farms works: 'Quality is not really a concern when choosing a turbine manufacturer, it's more about guanxi

(g) The graphics (heading: Whether breezy or sunny)
(i) The first panel: Installed wind generating capacity[;] Megawatts

* China 402 (in the year of 2001); 764 (2004); 5,910 (2007); 42,287 (2010)
* US 3,864 (2001); 6,456 (2004); 16,515 (2007); 37,889 (2010)
(ii) The second panel is a world map (heading: Commitment to all renewables[;] Total capacity (dollar figures are finance and investment inflow, 2010)).

* US 58GW ($34.0bn)
* Brazil 14GW ($7.6bn)
* UK 7.5GW ($3.3bn)
* France 9.6GW ($4.0bn)
* Germany 49GW ($41bn)
* India 18.7GW ($4.0bn)
* China 103GW ($54.4bn)
* Japan 26GW ($3.5bn)

I presume GW stands for gigawatts, a thousand times of megawatts.
(iii) The third panel (heading: Solar module prices[;] $ per watt) shows prices decreases from $4 in 4Q05 to $1 in $Q11.