Wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa signed three new contracts with China's leading wind power operators for the delivery of products with a total capacity of 351 megawatts (mW), the company said Thursday.

The announcement heralds the Spain-based company's expansion of presence in China, the world's fastest developing wind power market.

The manufacturer will develop 96 mW of wind power capacity with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co, 150 mW with Datang Renewable Power Co and 105 mW with Henan Weite Wind Power Co. It will contribute to the deals by delivering G90 and G58 wind turbines, Gamesa Chairman Jorge Calvet said.

The company last month said it will triple its investment in China to 90 million euros (US$125 million) by 2012. The sixth plant will open in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region early next year. Gamesa faces fierce competition with local companies, especially Sinovel, Goldwind and Dongfang Electric, which have a combined market share of 60 percent in China.

But Gamesa said it will have doubled its sales in China by 2013 when the Chinese market will account for 30 percent of its global sales. It will set up a research and development (R&D) center in the country, too, Calvet said.

"We are developing five new models of wind turbines, including 5 mW, 7 mW and 10 mW (varieties)," Calvet said.

"Gamesa will have the widest range of wind turbines, giving us an advantage in China's competitive market."

He made the remarks after Gamesa's rival Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world's largest wind turbine-maker, opened a US$50 million R&D center in Beijing this week to expand its China portfolio.

To increase sales in the country, Gamesa, which is also involved in wind farm operations, said it is cooperating with China's power operators. It has established joint ventures with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co and China Longyuan Power Group to "gain more presence in China's wind power projects", the chairman said.

Calvet also predicted China's wind turbine production capacity will remain at 12,000 mW a year for about the next four years.

Total installed wind power capacity will reach at least 150 gigawatts (gW) by 2020 compared with 25.8 gW at the end of 2009, the China Wind Power Outlook 2010 report said. The cost of wind power generation will decrease by 20 percent within three years and by 30 percent by 2015, Gamesa said. The company pledges to deliver cheaper new products that will finally make wind power as economical as energy from fossil fuels, he added.

(China Daily October 15, 2010)