GE Power Conversion, in partnership with Shanghai Electric Wind Power Equipment Co. (Sewind), one of the biggest offshore suppliers in China, is stepping up its presence in the renewables sector in the region. As the result of a recently signed deal, GE Power Conversion will be equipping Sewind’s offshore wind turbines with its latest 4MW fully fed LV3 wind converters. Totalling 1GW, the deal is set to be one of the biggest offshore wind projects in China. It will be one of the large wind farms appearing off the shores of Jiangsu and Fujian provinces and regarded as the advance guard of China’s renewable energy future. They will help the country to reach an installed wind power capacity of 200 GW by the end of 2020.
The LV3 converters will be manufactured in China at GE’s Shanghai facility. In addition to providing the technology, GE will also be undertaking service and maintenance responsibilities.
As wind turbines grow in size, efficiency increases are driving down the levelised cost of energy (LCOE). Similarly, converters are evolving in order to match this power increase. However, more power does not necessarily imply bigger converters, especially in the offshore industry where smaller footprint is a valuable attribute of equipment.
GE’s LV3 converter is said to be ideal for offshore wind farms. At its heart is the standardised high density LV3 power stack. Given the same converter footprint, it delivers 25% more power output.
Commenting on the deal, Sofia Sauvageot, global sales leader for Wind Applications, GE Power Conversion said, "In a fast growing wind market like China, GE is proud to provide one of the biggest Chinese offshore operators with reliable solutions which will be made in China for China."
