Power plant to start operation in 2020, diversify energy mix in Guangdong

Construction of the country's largest single offshore wind project, located off Nanpeng Island in Yangjiang, Guangdong province, kicked off on Monday.

With a total installed capacity of 400 megawatts, the project is scheduled to connected to the grid and start generating power by 2020, with a yearly generation capacity of 1.47 billion kilowatt hours, according to CGN New Energy Holdings Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Corp.

The project promotes the development of offshore wind power and improves the clean energy structure of South China's Guangdong, according to Huang Xiaofei, the company's spokesman.

It has strategic significance for western Guangdong's industrial upgrading, and Yangjiang in particular, and is also important for economic and social development in the region, Huang said.

The Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission approved the project last year. It includes a 220 kilovolt offshore booster station, a 35kV collector cable system, a 220kV submarine cable system and an onshore control center.

The project attracted investment of 8 billion yuan ($1.15 billion), according to CGN.

It is the company's third self-constructed offshore wind power project. Its first has already entered operation in Rudong, Jiangsu province and construction on the second, in Pingtan, Fujian province, is underway.

Joseph Jacobelli, a senior analyst of Asian utilities at Bloomberg Intelligence, said the project is an exciting development for clean energy in South China.

"When it comes to wind, Guangdong province is not rich in resources. As such, the new project will help to further diversify the energy mix in the province, especially helping to reduce the reliance on coal," he said.

"We would expect that the company will continue seeking more advanced wind, solar and energy storage technologies in the coming years."

During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, CGN, a major investor in the domestic wind power market, is focusing on offshore wind power resources.

It acquired a 75 percent stake in a wind power project from Sweden's North Pole Wind Power Project, the largest onshore wind farm in Europe, from Australian energy company Macquarie Group and United States-based General Electric Co.

The company currently has wind farm and solar power assets in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands after four years of development, according to CGN Europe Energy.