The contract is for 28 2.5MW wind turbines, including tower and foundation rings. Goldwind will be paid around CNY 400 million ($61 million) for the machines.
Jibei Electric Power, a local subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation, is developing the project, located in Zhangjiakou, about 200 kilometers to the north-west of the capital, Beijing.
The site was chosen after several rounds of scrutiny. The area has on average 6,000-plus hours of effective wind a year. Seventh-grade or stronger wind totals around 30 days annually. In addition, its sunshine times add up to about 3,000 hours a year.
The area has been approved by the state authority to develop one of the country's first few 10GW wind farms. Yet, the region has a small population and weak economy. There is not much demand for electricity, which needs be transmitted long distance to neighboring cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan.
The whole plan is to build a power generation base comprising 500MW wind power installations, 100MW solar and 110MW storage on a 500-hectare site.
"The conditions of Zhangbei is typical and representative,"said Liang Lixin, a deputy director of general service division, Zhangjiakou WSS Demo Project Company.
Launched in 2009, the first phase was completed at the end of 2011. With an investment of CNY 3.23 billion, Jibei Electric Power installed 100MW wind and 40MW solar power generating capacity and 20MW power storage capacity.
A 220-kv smart substation was also built. In the 18 months that followed, the demonstration plant had reportedly transmitted 420,000MWh of green electricity to its users.
The second phase will cost CNY 6 billion and install an additional capacity of 400MW wind, 60MW solar power and 50MW chemical power storage. A portion of the second phase has been concluded and is in grid-connected operation.
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