Developer Longyuan Power have reported that the Naqu wind farm has been connected to the web. The farm is located in Naqu county in Northern Tibet and comprises five wind turbines yielding a total capacity of 7.5MW. To this will be added a further 28 Guodian 1.5 MW turbines bringing the total power capacity to 49.5MW.
What is remarkable about the farm is its location- 4,700 metres above sea level. The highest wind farm in the world. While the wind speeds here are high, the turbines will be challenged by low temperatures and low air densityas well as severe thunderstorms.
China’s National Energy Administration gave approval for the project in March 2012. It is Tibet’s first wind farm and leaves only one area of China, Macau, without a wind farm. Tibet’s annual wind energy reserves amount to 93 billion/kWh, the seventh largest in China.
The turbine manufacturers are Guodian United. They were restructured and established in 2007, as Guodian United Power Technology Company Limited (United Power). They are state-owned and concentrate on green energy solutions, including wind power.
With over 4000 employees, United Power already ranks top 10 worldwide turbine manufacturers. It’s HQ is in Beijing. As demonstrated by this venture on the “roof of the world” in Tibet they specialise in 1.5MW turbines suitable for normal, high altitude, tideland & coastal, low temperature conditions. It already boasts over 3000 wind turbines installed across China’s provinces, including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin, Shanxi, Jiangsu and now Tibet.
