China Starts New Locally-Manufactured Gas Turbine for First Time
(Bloomberg) -- China started a power plant using an advanced gas turbine that’s been locally manufactured for the first time, paving the way for the country to eventually reduce reliance on imported technology amid a global shortage of equipment.
China Energy Investment Corp. commissioned the Anji Power Plant, which is using two turbines with a capacity of about 400 megawatts each, the firm said. The turbine was designed by US energy equipment manufacturer GE Vernova Inc., which set up a joint venture with China’s state-owned Harbin Electric Corp. in 2019 to produce the equipment with local components and deliver a dozen units per year.
The milestone is a step forward for China’s decades-long drive to produce gas turbines at home, just as the handful of global manufacturers struggle to meet a sudden surge in orders. Tech companies are increasingly relying on gas-fired power to support a boom in data-centers, while emerging countries are turning to the fuel to move away from coal.
China is poised to have 150 gigawatts of gas power capacity by this year, and the industry is proposing an expansion to 200 gigawatt by end of the decade. Gas power is playing a growing role in the country’s coastal economies, where expansion of onshore renewables has run into land scarcity and grid constraints, said Qi Qin, an analyst with the Centre for Reserach on Energy and Clean Air.
Other Chinese firms, such as Dongfang Electric Corp. and Shanghai Electric Group Co., have also accelerated their own gas turbine programs.
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