China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Limited (“Ming Yang” or the “Company”), a leading wind turbine manufacturer in China, today announced that it opened its North American research and development (“R&D”) center on the Centennial Campus of N.C. State University (“NCSU Centennial Campus”) in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The new center will focus on state of the art research on offshore wind turbine to further enhance energy output and lower the cost of electricity. These researches will be demonstrated in Ming Yang’s newly developed wind turbine generator (“WTG”). Dr. Shu Ching Quek, president of Ming Yang Wind Power USA Inc. (“Ming Yang USA”), will lead the center.
“We welcome Ming Yang Wind Power to North Carolina. As the first industrial large scale wind turbine R&D facility in the state, we look forward to a successful partnership in harnessing North Carolina’s wind power potential,” said Gov. Bev Perdue.
This announcement is in line with the recently released report from the Scientific Panel on Offshore Energy that recommended engaging wind-energy companies to promote opportunities for offshore wind development and making the state an east coast hub for the industry.
“We are very excited to set up a new R&D center on NCSU Centennial Campus in Raleigh to focus on the cutting-edge technology research for our new wind turbines,” said Chuanwei Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ming Yang. “The R&D center is Ming Yang’s first step into the United States. North Carolina is a proven natural ground for the research and development for offshore wind turbine technology since the state has the best offshore wind resources on the east coast. The modular technology that is being developed will likely be applied to the rest of Ming Yang’s product line, and will help lower the cost of energy and increase the reliability of our wind turbines which in turn is expected to make our wind turbines internationally competitive. We hope that this will strengthen our ability to provide innovative and customizable wind power solutions to our customers in the United States and around the world.”
“We chose NCSU Centennial Campus as the location of our new R&D center to leverage the multi-disciplinary talent pool and provide a conducive environment for more innovations in this field,” said Dr. Shu Ching Quek, president of Ming Yang USA. “Our focus is to reduce Cost of Energy (“COE”) for offshore WTG. This can be achieved through advanced manufacturing methods and increase of efficiency from turbine to farm level system optimization. Another goal for the R&D center, also a challenge to the wind power industry, is to improve WTG reliability. Increased reliability further lowers the COE by reducing Operations & Maintenance (“O&M”) cost.”
During his career, Dr. Quek has developed 22 patents related to wind turbine blades and clean energy technologies. Prior to joining Ming Yang, Dr. Quek was a research associate professor for wind turbine design at Tufts University and previously headed multi-million dollar rotor development programs at General Electric Company.
Dr. Quek added, “We are very thankful for the warm welcome and logistical support we’ve received from NC State University, the NC Solar Center, and the NC Department of Commerce. We look forward to a great partnership in the years ahead.”
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Offshore WIND staff, March 13, 2012; Image: ncsu