The first shot of "replacing the small with the big" was fired, and the old wind farm was reborn

How does 99 equal to 24? This question has an answer in Ningxia Zhongwei.

More than ten years ago, Ningxia, known as the reputation of "plugging the south of the Yangtze River", with its unique wind and solar resources, caught up with the first express train of China's new energy development, and became China's first new energy comprehensive demonstration zone.

More than ten years later, when many wind farms began to face the crisis of "aging", Ningxia fired the first shot of "replacing small with large" old wind farms in the country, and took the lead in issuing the "Notice on Carrying out the Pilot Project of "Replacing Small with Large" for Old Wind Farms in Ningxia in 2021. responded to the call to become the "first person to eat crabs", and joined hands with Sany Renewable Energy to build the first batch of "big instead of small" renewal pilot projects in Ningxia, so that Zhongwei Xiangshan Wind Farm was reborn and reborn in just one year.

Replace the small with the big, and the old wind farm will be reborn

Zhongwei Xiangshan Wind Farm has a total installed capacity of 148.5MW, and the original 99 old wind turbines of 1.5MW have been in service for more than 15 years before the transformation, and the power generation efficiency and stability of the units have long been much worse than before. In September 2022, the wind farm launched the upgrading and transformation of "replacing small with large", and on the premise that the total installed capacity remains unchanged, 99 small wind turbines will be transformed into 24 Sany Renewable Energy's 6.25MW "Jumbo" windmills. The diameter of the impeller has been increased from 82 meters to 193 meters, and the height of the tower has been increased to 105 meters.

Since the renovated and upgraded new wind farm was connected to the grid at full capacity in June 2023, the cumulative power generation capacity has reached 310 million kWh, the annual equivalent full power generation hours of a single unit are 2,088 hours, and the overall unit utilization rate in 2024 is as high as 99.75%, which can be described as a new life. Compared with coal-fired power plants of the same scale, it can save about 98,000 tons of standard coal per year, reduce about 736 tons of sulfur dioxide, 293,000 tons of carbon dioxide, and reduce dust emissions by about 128 tons per year.

Policy support, isovolume update + capacity increase

According to the policy of "replacing small with large" issued by Ningxia Autonomous Region, Zhongwei Xiangshan and other capacity renewal projects will continue the original subsidy electricity price policy of 0.58 yuan/kWh until the expiration date, and the electricity price will be implemented according to the new grid-connected projects after the expiration. At the same time, after the replacement of 24 new units with 99 old units, the project capacity can be increased within the original site for the 75 blank turbine sites released, so as to fully tap the value of remaining land and wind energy resources.

With the support of Ningxia's favorable policies, the Zhongwei Xiangshan project will also start the second phase of construction in the second half of this year. The total installed capacity of the second phase of the project is also 148.5MW, and the remaining land resources will be used in the original wind farm to increase capacity without re-acquisition, and the 6.25MW wind turbines of Sany Renewable Energy will still be used. The second phase of the capacity increase project will implement the feed-in tariff according to the new project. Relying on the model of isochoric renewal + capacity increase, "replacing small with large" has not only greatly improved the project income, but also saved land resources and expanded development space.

The "fourth pole" of China's wind power growth has begun

In June 2023, the National Energy Administration (NEA) issued the Administrative Measures for the Renovation and Upgrading and Decommissioning of Wind Farms, which filled the "gap" in the management policy for the renovation, upgrading and decommissioning of wind farms. The document points out that wind farms that have been connected to the grid for more than 15 years or have a single unit capacity of less than 1.5 megawatts are encouraged to carry out renovation and upgrading. This means that after the "Three Norths" wind power base, offshore wind power, and rural wind power, the "fourth pole" of China's wind power growth has officially begun.

According to CWEA statistics, by the end of 2023, the installed capacity of wind power that has been connected to the grid for more than 15 years, that is, has the potential demand for technological transformation, is 12 million kilowatts (12GW); It is estimated that by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the potential technical transformation scale of wind turbines of 1.5MW and below models that have been in operation for more than 15 years will be about 93 million kilowatts (93GW). Judging from the above data, as a large number of wind turbines enter the twilight years, the wind power market of "replacing small with large" will also usher in a period of concentrated outbreak.

As the pioneer of "replacing the small with the large" of the old wind farms in the country, the smooth implementation of the "equal volume renewal + capacity increase" model of the Zhongwei Xiangshan Wind Farm of the State Power Investment Corporation has set a model for the transformation and upgrading of old wind farms across the country. With the introduction of more favorable policies, there must be more possibilities for the future of old wind farms.