Haste makes waste
Despite China's recent surge in wind farms, there is an infrastructure problem that hasn't been widely reported – many of China's wind turbines cannot connect to the country's larger electric grid. There are not enough cables, wires and related technology to bring wind-generated electricity from places such as rural Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Gansu, and Xinjiang. That is where most of China's wind turbines are located – far from the densely populated hubs of China's northeast and south, where electricity is most needed
Currently, coal-fired power plants account for about 75 percent of electricity in China. Wind farms usually take up a lot of ground, which is hard to find in urban areas that need the power the most, and farms are usually a long way from the intended market, requiring expensive pylons and power-draining wires. Meanwhile, the system for managing and distributing the generated power – the electrical grid – cannot withstand anything unpredictable at this point. It is hard enough to balance demand that changes hour-by-hour with power stations that run continually, never mind input levels that change with the wind.
If the electricity is produced and wasted due to shortages of wires and cables, it undermines the significance of such rapid development. The government must strengthen its efforts in management and distribution, and try to assure the healthy development of the sector.
