“After the introduction of the new national wind turbine grid-connected technology standard, all grid-connected wind turbines are required to have low-voltage traversing capabilities, and we will have to retrofit wind turbines from previously developed wind farms.” Li Yilun, Assistant to General Manager of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., confesses The resulting transformation costs brought them a lot of financial pressure.

Recently, some media have revealed that a new national standard for wind power grid-connected technology will soon be introduced. It is reported that the standard was led by the SERC, drafted jointly by the China Electric Power Research Institute and the China National Electric Power Longyuan Group. It has been reported to the Electricity Regulatory Commission and will be announced to the public after final verification in mid-late April. The new standard will replace the “Technical Regulations for the Integration of Wind Farms into Power Grids” announced by the State Grid Corporation of China in 2009, and adds new technical requirements for the integration of wind turbines and wind farms into the power grid, such as dynamic reactive power/active compensation technology and low voltage. Through technology, etc., to further improve the safety of wind power grid connection.

The problem of grid-connected wind power has been plaguing the development of China's wind power industry, and the outbreak of “2.24” Jiuquan wind power in Gansu Province has further exposed the loopholes in the integration and operation of wind power in China. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission, in summarizing the causes of the accident, pointed out that the four issues of wind power equipment, wind farm management, grid access, and operational safety supervision led to the accident. Among them, some of the faulty wind turbines do not have the “low-voltage ride-through” capability indicated in the supply contract, which directly refers to the defects in the design and manufacturing of the fan equipment.

According to reports, the purpose of requiring a low-voltage ride-through capability of a wind turbine is that, when a fault or disturbance in the grid causes a drop in the voltage at the grid connection point of the wind farm, the generator set can be connected to the grid uninterruptedly within a range of a certain voltage drop, thus creating a grid connection. By self-adjusting the winning time, this technology is considered to be the biggest guarantee for improving the safety and stability of the power grid.

In the face of this new standard, wind turbine manufacturers and wind power project developers, which are closely related to it, reacted strongly.

Developers say that financial pressure is high

“At present, negotiation with wind turbine manufacturers involved in the transformation of wind turbine equipment has been very difficult,” said Li Yilun. As the new grid-connected standard was introduced after the procurement of wind turbines, the wind farm was technically upgraded and upgraded in accordance with the requirements of the new standard. The responsibility naturally falls on the developer.

Because the previous supply contract did not stipulate that the wind turbine equipment must have low voltage ride-through capability, the developers were very passive in the negotiations with the wind turbine manufacturers. "The negotiations with foreign-invested wind power manufacturing companies are even more difficult." Li Yilun said that the most difficult part of the agreement is the cost of renovation.

"Because each wind turbine equipment manufacturer's technical route regarding low voltage ride through is different, the cost of renovations reported by them is also different. At present, the average quoted price for each wind turbine reformation is about 200,000 yuan, and some manufacturers also report that. The sky-high price of 500,000 to 600,000 yuan." Li Yilun said that this extra cost of renovation has caused him to use his brains.

Moreover, the profitability of wind farms built and put into operation before the new standards are introduced will also be affected. Li Yilun calculated the account for the reporter. “For a 50 MW wind farm project, for example, there are 33 1.5 MW turbines that need to be reconstructed. If the cost of rebuilding each unit is calculated at 200,000 yuan, it would be equivalent to 660 yuan for developers to pay. The cost of renovation is 10,000 yuan, while the annual power generation of wind farms is calculated at 100 million kilowatt-hours and the electricity price is calculated at 5 horses per kilowatt-hour. This wind farm has an annual income of 50 million yuan. Nothing much, but now we need to take out nearly 7 million yuan as a wind turbine reform cost. Developers will face great financial pressure in the first two years of operation on the wind farm. Li Yilun frankly said.

Technology is not a problem

It is understood that, at present, most of the domestic wind turbine manufacturers do not master the low-voltage ride-through technology. In the face of future fan purchases, one vote veto system, Li Yilun believes that “fan equipment manufacturers will also bear no small pressure.”

"As far as the technology itself is concerned, it is not irretrievable, but the previous standard did not require this." Qin Ming, director of the Wind Power Equipment Technology Research Institute of Guodian United Power Technology Co., Ltd., said. The 1.5 megawatt double-fed fan produced by his company has successfully passed field tests of low-voltage ride-through capability in 2010. This test is the first case in China.

“Low-voltage ride-through technology will involve a set of software and hardware equipment for manufacturers, and the cost of manufacturing the wind turbine will increase accordingly. It will eventually be reflected in the price of wind turbines.” In an interview with reporters, he also stated that "This will bring a lot of impact to the wind turbine equipment manufacturing companies in price wars."

In recent years, due to the rapid expansion of wind turbine equipment manufacturing enterprises, wind power manufacturing industry has experienced excess capacity. In order to win in the fierce market competition, various manufacturers have resorted to the means of price reduction competition, and the quotation of wind turbines from 6500 in 2008 Yuan/kilometer all the way down to 4,000 yuan/kilowatt.

In this regard, industry experts pointed out that with the introduction of new grid-connected technology standards, the era in which domestic wind turbine manufacturers expand their market share by continuously cutting prices may be terminated. Instead, the performance of grid-connected systems is reflected in their success. The "grid-friendly" units are favored by the market. This will also open up a new situation in which wind turbine manufacturing wins quality.