A-Power opens 1GW wind turbine plant in China

Liaoning, China-based A-Power Energy Generation Systems (Nasdaq: APWR) said today it has opened its first wind turbine production facility in Shenyang.

The plant has the capacity to produce 1,125 megawatts of turbines annually. A-Power licenses its technology from German Fuhrlander Wind Generation.

A-Power said in July that the 310,000 square foot facility is the largest wind turbine production facility in China (see A-Power completes first phase of wind turbine facility).

Earlier this month, A-Power announced plans to work with GE Drivetrain Technologies, a subsidiary of General Electric's GE Transportation unit, on a joint venture wind turbine gearbox assembly plant. GE Drivetrain also said it planned to supply 900 2.7 MW wind turbine gearboxes to A-Power beginning in 2010.

The factory is expected to serve as GE Drivetrain Technologies' Southeast Asia manufacturing center starting in mid-2010, operating under the name GE Transportation.

China has established a goal of increasing its wind energy output from 1 GW in 2005 to 30 GW by 2020. But analysts say 2008 had a shortfall of about 5 gigawatts of gearboxes relative to the demand for turbines.

A-Power entered the wind market in China in 2008. Through its subsidiary, Liaoning GaoKe Energy Group, A-Power said it's the largest provider of distributed power generation systems in China. The company has relationships with Tsinghua University in Beijing and the China Academy of Sciences in Guangzhou to commercialize technologies.

China now has the largest wind turbine manufacturing industry in the world, with leading producers such as Goldwind, Sinovel Wind, Dongfang, Windey and Sewind (see China drives global market, supply for wind).

China’s wind equipment market is worth about $8.59 billion annually.