China’s Wind Engineers Argue Merits of Going Big or Scaling Back

Renewable power is plentiful and cheap in China, a boon for consumers but a strain on firms that manufacture the equipment. Leading wind turbine makers are meeting the challenge with radically different solutions.

Pricing reforms this year are putting electricity from Chinese renewables at a steep discount to coal, the country’s mainstay fuel. It means stable returns on wind and solar are no longer guaranteed. The imperative is to reduce costs, and scaling up or scaling down seems to be the choice for turbine engineers seeking to deliver the most competitive power.