China, the world's biggest photovoltaic and wind power market, still relies on foreign key technologies, calling for breakthroughs, according to a report linked to Tsinghua University.

China needs to import almost all of its software involving wind turbine generator design and simulation, finite element analysis, computer-aided design, numerical computing, and wind farm design, the renowned university's carbon neutrality institute and the school of environment, among other parties, wrote in a report published today.

As much as 60 percent of all main bearings for wind turbine generators of five megawatts or higher are imported. The corresponding ratio for insulated-gate bipolar transistors used in wind turbine converters is as high as 70 percent. All programmable logic controllers are supplied by foreign companies.

Carbon fiber mainly comes from the United States, Germany, and Japan as domestic products cannot satisfy companies' demand in terms of quality, capacity, and cost. Moreover, foreign firms supply about 95 percent of all lubricants used to maintain wind turbine generators in China.

China could lower non-technical costs by standardizing land-related issues, cutting the cost of resource allocation, enhancing collaboration in project construction and power transmission, as well as improving regulatory oversight, according to the report.

The country could formulate more incentives, enhance environmental standards, and set up a carbon trading system to drive healthy and sustainable development so that more than 95 percent of the industry chain could be localized, per the report. It should quickly develop supportive technologies to store wind and solar energy and produce hydrogen to create integrated bases while driving the development of renewables along with other industries.

（Picture: Veer）