Chinese Equipment Maker Mingyang Wins First Japanese Offshore Wind Deal

In what is likely to be seen as a key milestone for Chinese Wind Energy manufacturing, Ming Yang Smart Energy Group, a Chinese maker of wind power equipment, said it has shipped its turbine generator system to Nyuzen-machi Offshore Wind Farm, the first Japanese offshore wind power project to use turbines made in China.

Mingyang also has a PV arm, Ruike New Energy that is into solar module manufacturing technology and provides PV power generation integrated solutions centered around CdTe thin film PV technology.

For the wind division, the Japanese project win is the second notable success after winning a project in Italy earlier. Acceptance in the Japanese market with its demanding standards in terms of resilience to strong sea winds and more is seen as a significant breakthrough for Mingyang. The offshore wind energy market outside China has so far been dominated by a clutch of mostly western firms.

The Nyuzen-machi Offshore Wind Farm is located in the Shimoniikawa district of Toyama prefecture and is designed to supply power to 3,600 local families. Offshore construction will start next month and the project is expected to start operating in the second half of this year.

Ming Yang also said it has gained certificates issued by Japan’s economy and industry ministry and ClassNK, and it is the only Chinese company among the four certified offshore wind power equipment makers.

In its home market, MingYang ranks third among all Chinese wind turbine makers, accounting for 14 percent of the market. Goldwind Sci & Tech, ranks first, with a 23 percent share. China based firms are widely expected to make a major push for expanding market share after achieving significant scale in their home markets. The template is expected to be the same as solar, a combination of lower prices and faster delivery than their global competitors.