Inner Mongolian wind

Just came across an interesting article on Newenergy.org.cn: Apparently Inner Mongolia’s wind power industry is taking off, with installed capacity already No. 1 in China. Wang Yutian and Bai Bing report:

随着大批风电项目和风机设备制造厂落户内蒙古，当地风电产业迅猛发展。目前内蒙古全区并网风电装机容量３００万千瓦，累计完成投资近４００亿元，占全国风电装机总容量的四分之一，跃居全国首位。

Following the setlling of a large group of windpower projects and turbine equipment factories in Inner Mongolia, that region’s windpower industry has been rapidly developing. Inner Mongolia currently has an installed grid-connected windpower capacity of 3 million megawatts through the whole region, with a total completed investment approaching 40 billion yuan, accounting for one quarter of China’s installed windpower capacity, leaping into first place in China.

据内蒙古自治区发改委高技术产业处处长孟青龙介绍，近几年内蒙古风电产业发展速度加快，２００７年、２００８年内蒙古完成风电吊装容量较上一年分别增长１７５％和１４２％，产业规模快速形成。预计内蒙古风电装机容量今年年底将达到５００万千瓦。

According to the head of the High Technology Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission, Meng Qinglong, in recent years Inner Mongolia’s windpower industry has developed more rapidly. In 2007 and 2008 Inner Mongolia’s completed windpower hoisted capacity grew by 175% and 142% over the previous year, quickly forming the scale of the industry. It is predicted Inner Mongolia’s installed windpower capacity will reach 5 million megawatts by the end of the year.

And here I will admit defeat. I just cannot figure out this sentence: “与此同时，风电产业呈规模化发展趋势。”, and besides, the rest of that paragraph is just a city-by-city breakdown of windpower capacity, installed and under construction. Chifeng leads the way with a million megawatts installed already, and a bunch of other cities including Baotou and Tongliao in the 350 to 800 thousand megawatt range. And what’s under construction takes the total up to 5.9 million megawatts.

The final paragraph begins by stating that Inner Mongolia’s level of operational management of windpower has been unceasingly growing, but I can’t see how they prove it. Not that I doubt that statement, I just don’t see the relevance of the supporting sentences. Maybe that’s because I’m an English teacher, not an electrical engineer. Whatever, it does say that at the end of April, Inner Mongolia had 3.5 million megawatts of windpower connected to the grid, of which 2.24 million megawatts is fed into the Inner Mongolian grid (7.3% of the capacity tracked by the regional grid), 1.1 million megawatts into Northeast China, and 160 thousand megawatts into the Northwest.

Puff piece? Advertorial? Smells like it, but I don’t know. I don’t really think it matters, either. What matters is the rapid development of windpower in Inner Mongolia, and if there’s any truth to the reported numbers, what’s happening out there is looking very good.