China’s wind industry is considering legal action against government ministries in three Chinese provinces in an attempt to force the country to use more wind energy, as systemic problems hinder Beijing’s commitment to cut fossil fuel use.

由于体制问题一直阻碍着北京方面实现其减少化石燃料使用的承诺，中国风电行业正考虑在三个省份采取针对政府部门的法律行动，以设法推动中国更多地使用风电。

China has emerged as the world’s top region for wind power, accounting for a third of global installed capacity after overtaking the EU last year, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. But much of the electricity produced by its vast wind farms goes unused, with grids unable to accommodate fluctuating sources of power and amid rising overcapacity in the country’s total power generation.

根据全球风能理事会(Global Wind Energy Council)的数据，去年中国已超过欧盟，成为世界风电装机容量最高的地区，占全球风电装机容量的三分之一。但中国庞大风力发电厂生产的很多电能并未得到利用，因为电网接纳不了不稳定的电力来源，而且中国总发电量正处于产能过剩不断上升时期。

China’s Wind Association said on Thursday it had given relevant ministries in the provinces of Gansu, Yunnan and Xinjiang two weeks to justify explicit curbs on wind power use by local grids, and may pursue litigation depending on the response.

中国风能协会(Wind Energy Association)周四表示，该协会已要求甘肃、云南、新疆三省相关部门在两周时间内，就明确限制风电并入地方电网的规定作出解释，并且可能根据回应情况决定是否提起诉讼。

The National Energy Administration this week ordered grid companies “to plug in all renewable power sources that comply with their technical standards”. However, it fell short of ensuring the full utilisation that has long been required by law.

本周，中国国家能源局(National Energy Administration)下令要求电网公司“接入所有符合技术标准的可再生电力能源”。但这并不保证全额利用，而全额利用是法律早就规定的。

Chinese regulations require all wind power to be bought by the grid, to help meet the national goal of reducing coal-fired power by 60 per cent over the next five years.

中国相关法规要求电网购买所有的风电，以帮助实现未来五年燃煤发电减少60%的国家目标。

“We hope to use the law to solve this problem,” said Qin Haiyan, general secretary of the Wind Energy Association.

中国风能协会秘书长秦海岩表示：“我们希望用法律解决这一问题。”

“For many years [local governments] have taken specific measures [to curb wind power use], so we want to know what legal backing they have,” said Mr Qin.

“多年来，（地方政府）采取了各种具体措施（限制风电使用），因此，我们想知道他们有什么法律依据，”秦海岩说。

Chinese curtailment of wind power totalled 34bn kilowatt hours in 2015 — equivalent to the amount needed to power 8.5m UK households, according to the association. In winter, when curtailment rates are highest, wastage reaches as high as 60 per cent in some provinces.

根据该协会的数据，中国2015年弃风限电总量达到340亿千瓦时，相当于850万户英国家庭的用电需求量。在弃风率最高的冬季，某些省份的风电浪费高达60%。

The association estimates that wind power companies lost a total of Rmb18bn ($2.8bn) because of curtailment in 2015.

该协会估计，2015年，中国风电企业因弃风造成的损失共计180亿元人民币（合28亿美元）。

Liu Zhenya, State Grid chairman, said on Wednesday that the need to use coal-fired plants that double as residential heating providers in north-east China was part of the reason for the reduced use of wind power, and that “the approval process for wind power and for the grid are different”.

国家电网(State Grid)董事长刘振亚周三表示，东北地区把数量翻倍的火电厂用作住宅供暖提供商，这种需要是风电使用减少的一部分原因，而且“审批风电和电网项目不是同时的，不是协调的”。

However, wind power producers’ woes go beyond bureaucracy.

然而，风电生产商面临的困难远不止官僚作风。

Wind companies in Yunnan province in south-west China say they were required to compensate coal-fired power plants whose power was not being fully used. Yunnan has a surplus of power thanks to massive hydropower dams.

云南省的风电公司表示，它们被要求为电力没有得到全部使用的火电厂提供补偿。得益于有大量的水电站，云南电力过剩。

In sparsely populated Xinjiang, where huge power projects are far from available markets, wind producers say they have been asked to curtail unless they have contracts to sell outside the region. But exports from Xinjiang and neighbouring regions in the remote north-west face growing competition as inland and coastal provinces install their own wind power projects to meet provincial renewable energy quotas.

在人口稀疏的新疆地区，大型电力项目距离现有市场非常远，当地风电场表示，它们被要求限制发电，除非它们与外省有供电合约。但随着内陆和沿海省份纷纷上马自己的风电项目以满足本省的可再生能源配额，位于西北偏远地区的新疆及邻近地区要向外输出电力就面临日益激烈的竞争。

Wind farms in regions with high degrees of curtailment are often forced by local governments to offer power at a discount, despite higher official prices. Renewable energy subsidies from the finance ministry take some time to come through and are not sufficient to compensate for their losses.

弃风率较高地区的风电场通常被地方政府强迫以折扣价供应电力，尽管官方价格较高。而中国财政部的可再生能源补贴需要一段时间才会到位，并且也不足以补偿它们的损失。

The wait has a huge impact on wind companies’ finances, according to Ying Yuan, a Greenpeace analyst. “Dispatch of the [subsidies] usually takes one year or even longer,” she said. “A lot of wind companies can’t afford this delay.”

绿色和平(Greenpeace)分析师Ying Yuan表示，这种拖延对风电公司的财务影响很大。“（补贴）通常需要一年乃至更长时间才发放下来，许多风电公司经不起这种拖延。”

Problems can arise even when wind is accepted by the grid. One wind company spokesperson, who did not want to be named, said her company had produced 50m kWh in 2015 for which it had received no payment. She expects the problem to be worse next year.

即便风电被并入电网，依然可能出现问题。一位不愿透露姓名的风电公司发言人表示，她所在公司在2015年的发电量是5000万千瓦时，但还没有收到任何付款。她预计明年问题会更严重。