Though China is renowned for its booming renewables sector and strong government investments, some Chinese manufacturing companies have been hurt by slowed international appetite for turbines.
Chinese wind and solar manufacturing company Cleantech Solutions International blamed its weak second quarter financial results on a slowing wind sector that has been receiving less government support in recent months. Net income dropped by nearly a third in the second quarter of 2011–from $3 million during the same quarter in 2010 to $1.2 million this year–and total revenue dropped from nearly $19 million in Q2 2010 to $12.6 million in the quarter ending in June 30, 2011, the company reported on August 15.
“We faced a difficult pricing environment in our primary wind power market, resulting in margin pressure and lower sales volume,” said Chairman and CEO Jianhua Wu of Cleantech Solutions, recently renamed to China Wind Systems.
Though China has been consistently installing wind, finally becoming the world’s leader in installed wind power capacity in 2010, global markets have slowed due to financial concerns and turbulent regulatory environments.
But mainland China added 18.93 GW of wind power in 2010, bringing the country’s total capacity to 44.73 GW, according to the China Wind Power Outlook 2011, published by Greenpeace and the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association on June 16. Twenty nine provinces and regions in Mainland China have wind farms, according to the report.
For a look at China’s renewable energy 5-year plan, which maps out the country’s energy strategy, read: Chinese Walls.
Despite the setbacks in sales from the international wind sector, Wu said the company has been seeing continued sales growth in the solar industry.
Jinko Solar, a separate Chinese solar manufacturing company saw increased demand for panels this quarter with total solar product shipments reaching 254.1 MW, compared with 208.4 MW in the first quarter of 2011 and 99.9 MW in the second quarter of 2010. The company reported a net quarterly income of $36.4 million, a 30.2% increase year over year.
“We are encouraged by our progress in the solar energy industry,” Cleatech’s Wu said in a company statement.
Photo Caption: Cranes stand next to a row of wind turbine masts under construction on August 20, 2010 near Linthe, Germany.
