Wind in the sails

Ghrepower sold its first wind turbine in the UK five years ago through a local distributor. The Scottish government opened a bid to construct a wind turbine next to a recreational facility and Ghrepower won the contract.

Two years ago, Deng set up a subsidiary for Ghrepower in Swansea. While the wind turbines' manufacturing is still done in China, the Swansea subsidiary is in charge of sales, repair and installation.

"We expanded overseas because the wind turbine market in China is restricted by China's immature smart grid system, which is the infrastructure essential for delivering energy generated from wind farms to people's homes," Deng says.

"In comparison, the smart grid market of the UK is very advanced. Another advantage of the UK market is the financial support the government gives to producers of renewable energy, which drives up demand," he says.

Under a feed-in tariff scheme introduced in 2011, homeowners and businesses are paid a cost-based subsidy by the government for the renewable electricity they produce, which includes solar, wind, tidal and others.

For wind energy, the UK government is paying 17.50 pence for each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated if the total amount of power generation is between 100-500 kW.

However, to help its customers take advantage of this scheme, Ghrepower had to undergo the Microgeneration Certification Scheme assessment. Deng says that Ghrepower has already invested one and a half years and a lot of assessment fees to gain this certificate. He believes Ghrepower will receive its certificate within the next three months.

Deng is fully confident about Ghrepower's growth in the UK, as the company's wind turbines are on average 20 percent less expensive than competitors in the European market.

"As our products are manufactured in China, we have certain cost advantages. For example, a crucial material for the wind turbines battery is a magnet, which in turn relies on rare earth materials. As China produces rare earths, we have a cost advantage," he says.

At the same time, Deng points out that Ghrepower wind turbine technology is of high standard, and some of its extra functions single it out from its competitors. For example, the wind turbines' propeller blades can change shape in response to the amount of wind available.

"This technology is common for large scale wind turbines, but quite rare for small and medium-scale turbines, and makes us unique.

"We are fully confident about our growth in the British market. But at the same time, growing in the British market is an opportunity to accumulate lots of knowledge in this industry to be used at home as China's wind turbine sector matures in the future," Deng says.

Contact the writers at cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn and zhangchunyan@chinadaily.com.cn