Closer Look: Tilting At Unconnected Windmills

(Beijing) -- China may not sustain its headlong growth in the wind power industry with recent gusts signaling that a deflection is underway with the latest regulatory assessment on technology standards.

In February, a serious setback took place on the Jiuquan Wind Power Base in the northwestern province of Gansu, which led 600 turbines to drop off-grid, resulting in an instant power loss of 840,000 kilowatts.

The ensuing probe by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission pointed to safety problems with wind equipment manufacturers, the wind farm builder, power grid infrastructure and technological standards.