- 2020-07-10
- Source: GOLDWIND
Focusing on overseas & offshore wind power markets, Goldwind keeps exploring new modes of overseas business.
As PPA and FIT policies are phasing out worldwide, investors are turning their attention to distributed wind power market featuring high electricity rates and easy approval.
In Turkey, the current FIT program is expected to expire by the end of 2020, while new wind power programs are still under development. Distributed wind power, by virtue of simple approval process and encouraging policy issued by the Turkish government at the beginning of 2020 (raising the ceiling on unit capacity from 1 MW to 5 MW), is drawing more attention from investors as direct power supply to their own factories, so as to reduce the cost of electricity.
Goldwind is one of the pioneering wind turbine manufacturers to launch solutions to distributed generation, and raised the business mode “distributed wind power: GW3S smart turbine + 20-year full service” for overseas market. The business mode has been put into successful practice in Turkey, setting an important example for Goldwind in global market.
Yucel project is the largest distributed wind project in Turkey, and adopts the business mode “distributed wind power: GW3S smart turbine + 20-year full service”. Let’s take a look at its origins and prospects.
Q: What is distributed wind power market like in Turkey?
A: The distributed wind power projects in Turkey are mainly used for energy self-sufficient factories and conventional grid connection. These two types of projects have common features: 1) they are both subject to the approval-based mechanism and electricity rates are high; 2) the permits are easily obtained compared with those of regular projects; 3) no land use issues; 4) convenient access to the grid.
According to statistics, Turkey is home to over 5,000 large-sized factories, showing huge potential in developing distributed wind power. Yucel project, located in Bandirma the northwest region of Turkey, is for energy self-sufficiency of factories and mainly supplies green energy to local steelworks, farms and cold storage warehouses.
Q: Why choose GW140-3.X MW wind turbine?
A: Yucel project in Turkey adopts GW140-3.4 MW permanent-magnetic direct-drive wind turbine. It does not rely on gearboxes, which can effectively reduce the frequency of mechanical faults. The wind turbine is equipped with full-power converter, showing better characteristics in grid connection, and thus can better adapt to the local grid.
Yucel project is the largest one in Turkey for energy self-sufficiency, with total capacity of 6800 kW. Restricted by the grid requirements, we equip the project with an energy management platform to maximize the power generation under the premise of meeting grid requirements.
Q: What does 20-year full service mean?
A: 20-year full service refers to that during the 20-year contract period of Yucel project, Goldwind will provide customers with spare parts, consumables and O&M services.
The full service has eliminated owners’ concerns about long-term stable operation of wind turbine equipment and project investment. Judging from GW140-3.4 MW wind turbines that we put into operation in Turkish market since March 2019, the availability is above 99.7%.
Considering high electricity prices for industrial customers, the mode of “distributed wind power: GW3S smart turbine + 20-year full service” will save a considerable amount of annual electricity costs for owners. Regarding this investment, owners will recycle the costs within 3 to 4 years, and for the rest 16 years of operation, they can enjoy ultra-low-cost electricity and reduce 70% to 80% of electricity expenses, equivalent to tens of millions of US dollars.
Q: What opportunities does the new mode have in global market?
A: Globally speaking, the new mode is benefited from its small and sophisticated features in exploring new market, as it is flexible and can be applied in diversified scenarios. As of June 30, 2020, Goldwind has recorded six distributed wind power projects in Turkey. Besides, in some markets of the MENA region, projects with the new mode of “distributed wind power: GW3S smart turbine + 20-year full service” are also being implemented.
