Chinese turbine manufacturer CSIC (Chongqing) Haizhuang Windpower Equipment is planning a €400 million investment in acquiring and expanding an eastern European wind farm.
Haizhuang, based in southwest China’s Chongqing city, has signed a contract with Chongqing Foreign Trade (Group) (CTF) to set up a joint venture to develop overseas wind power projects.
Negotiations for the acquisition of the project are currently ongoing although Haizhuang would not give the name of the location. It will expand the project to 288MW.
The company will supply wind turbines for upgrading the wind farm, and offer operation and maintenance services. CTF will take charge of engineering construction and equipment export.
Haizhuang is a relatively minor player in China with only 1.4 per cent of the market. Its products include Aerodyn-designed 2MW turbines. In 2010, it started to develop 5MW offshore wind turbine in February 2010 in cooperation with Mecal and KK-Electronic. A prototype using 61.5-metre LM blades is expected to be produced later this month.
It has targeted expansion in the US. In April this year, it had two 60Hz 2MW turbines connected to the grid in Iowa.
Additionally, the firm will register a company in Detroit later this year to serve as a platform to develop wind farms in the United States and Canada.
Haizhuang started to target the overseas wind power market in 2009. It claims its wind turbines are 20-30 per cent cheaper than products in the world market.
In June, Haizhuang signed an MoU with Invest in Denmark to set up a R&D centre in Denmark to strengthen its research capacity.
