China idling 40 per cent of its wind turbine manufacturing capacity

Lu Yachen, the vice president of Shanghai Electric Group Corp has told the Bloomberg news agency that China is currently idling as much as 40 per cent of its wind turbine manufacturing base as a result of over capacity, which has pushed domestic prices of turbines down by over 30 per cent from 2004 levels.

“Most of China’s wind turbine makers are suffering from fierce competition, and I forecast some smaller players may be forced to shut because of the squeeze in profits in the future,” Lu said. The number of windpower equipment makers has risen to 78 from about six in 2004, he said.

China is unlikely to export more windpower turbines currently because “homegrown technology is not as competitive,” Lu said.
Shanghai Electric Corop has seen a 30-40 per cent decrease in domestic orders for coal-fired power plant equipment, while as much as 90 per cent of overseas orders came from India. “Our coal- fired power equipment business will be in trouble without India,” Lu told the news agency.