The First Industrial Revolution ushered in the steam age, enabling the use of fossil fuels such as coal and triggering a major transformation in productivity. The Second Industrial Revolution saw the widespread application of oil and electricity, leading to new energy systems and industrial models. Experts predict that the integration of next-generation information and communication technologies such as the Internet of Things and cloud computing with renewable energy technologies may bring about the Third Industrial Revolution—a revolution that will fundamentally change the way humans work and live, leading humanity into the era of smart energy.
The future of smart energy is based on ubiquitous renewable energy sources distributed around the world, such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, bioenergy, wave, and tidal energy. These dispersed resources are collected and utilized by thousands of different distributed energy collection points (such as residential rooftops, commercial buildings, and industrial buildings). They are managed, integrated, and distributed through smart grids employing digital and intelligent technologies, as well as large-capacity, highly secure energy storage systems. This maximizes the efficient use of energy and maintains economic and sustainable development, further promoting ecological civilization. It enables positive interactions among energy, resources, environment, buildings, and people, fostering a mutually beneficial and symbiotic relationship between humanity and nature.
The global smart energy industry is booming, with countries like Japan, Germany, and the United States making significant investments in the field. my country, undergoing transformation, also has a huge market demand for this emerging smart energy industry. "Chinese companies should seize the opportunity, integrate global innovation resources, take the lead, and drive my country's economic and social transformation," says Zhang Lei, a national expert and founder of Envision Energy, who deeply understands this point.
As a globally-oriented and intelligent energy company, Envision's innovation has extended to smart energy. Its business has expanded from the initial design and manufacturing of smart wind turbines to include smart grids, energy storage batteries, power semiconductors, and energy management systems, encompassing energy production, storage, management, and distribution. Currently, Envision is actively developing integrated smart energy solutions that integrate renewable energy, smart (micro)grids, smart substations, top-level energy storage, IoT, and cloud computing technologies, based on its "digital energy cloud" and IoT-based "smart energy" strategic blueprint.
"The global smart energy industry is developing rapidly. As a company representing the wisdom of the Chinese people, we must master core technologies to catch up." This is Zhang Lei's philosophy. As a dark horse in my country's renewable energy field, Envision has always kept abreast of international developments, actively exploring technological innovation and deploying a "smart" strategy within the global landscape of smart energy.
Energy production: Taking the lead in low-wind-speed fields and actively expanding into the offshore wind turbine sector.
Founded in 2007 with a focus on wind power, Envision has risen to become a leading wind turbine manufacturer in China in just six years. This success can be attributed not only to its mastery of core technologies but also to the team's unique vision and groundbreaking innovative thinking.
In recent years, the installed capacity of wind power in high-wind-speed regions such as the "Three Norths" (Northwest, Northeast, and North China) and the southeast coast has been continuously increasing, supporting the explosive growth of wind power in my country. However, the resulting grid connection bottlenecks severely restrict its healthy and sustainable development. Currently, power curtailment and wind abandonment remain unsolved problems, and this predicament is likely to continue in the short term. On the other hand, the receiving-end areas close to the grid load—that is, low-wind-speed areas accounting for about 60% of the country's wind energy resources—have not received sufficient attention and utilization due to the technical barriers of wind turbines, and are considered by some domestic developers to be "lacking development value."
2009 was a year of rapid expansion for wind power in high-wind-speed areas in my country, but it was also a year in which the accumulated drawbacks of the industry's development gradually became apparent. That year, Envision, based on its insight into the overall trend of the wind power industry and its prediction of the bottlenecks in wind power grid connection, decisively made low-wind-speed areas the focus of its market expansion. At that time, most companies were still focused on acquiring land in high-wind-speed areas, but Envision became the first in China to "take the plunge".
However, the low-wind-speed sector is not an easy market to navigate. "Generally speaking, developing and utilizing low-wind-speed resources requires addressing three major challenges. First, wind speeds are thin in low-wind-speed areas, making it difficult for existing turbines to capture wind energy. Second, to achieve the same power output as turbines in high-wind-speed areas, turbines in low-wind-speed areas must have larger blades to capture more wind energy, which directly increases the cost per kilowatt-hour. Third, the micro-site selection requirements for low-wind-speed wind farms are very high, and most wind power companies do not have the capability to design low-wind-speed wind farms," said Sun Jie, Director of Strategic Business at Envision Energy.
Envision quickly set about deploying its resources, assembling an international R&D team comprised of outstanding technical experts from its global innovation center in Denmark and senior product development experts from its R&D center in my country, to tackle key technical challenges. Leveraging years of expertise in low-wind-speed intelligent wind turbine technology, its accumulation of firsthand data on low-wind-speed wind farms, and its relevant experience in wind farm engineering operations, Envision Energy has completed the construction of its low-wind-speed intelligent technology innovation platform. Breakthroughs have been achieved in over 10 patented technologies, including intelligent dual-mode electric drive chain (full power/doubly fed), dynamic optimal power generation capture algorithms, optimal pitch angle adaptive learning algorithms, blade aerodynamic optimization, multivariable control, and wind farm collaborative control. These advancements effectively support the continuous improvement of the power generation performance of Envision's low-wind-speed units.
On April 30, 2012, Envision Energy's world's first 1.5 MW 93-meter large-rotor low-wind-speed intelligent dual-mode wind turbine was connected to the grid at the Lai'an Wind Farm in Anhui Province. This turbine reduces the applicable wind speed to 5.5 m/s, making ultra-low wind speed resources, which account for approximately 30% of total wind energy resources, available for development. This marks another significant technological breakthrough for Envision Energy since the launch of the world's first 1.5 MW 87-meter rotor low-wind-speed intelligent wind turbine in October 2009. This 1.5 MW 93-meter low-wind-speed intelligent dual-mode wind turbine adopts an industry-first intelligent dual-mode electric drive chain (full power/doubly fed) technology, fully combining the advantages of doubly fed and direct-drive technologies. It intelligently switches between different operating conditions, making the dual-mode electric drive chain superior to other designs in terms of energy conversion efficiency, and maximizing energy capture at low wind speeds. The emergence of these two low-wind-speed wind turbines has completely ended the history of wind power development in low-wind-speed areas of my country. Industry insiders highly praised them, saying that they "may change the pattern of wind energy development and utilization in my country."
Data shows that the 1.5 MW 93-meter low-wind-speed intelligent dual-mode wind turbine at Lai'an Wind Farm, compared with the traditional 70-80 meter wind turbine units, can effectively increase power generation by more than 15% while keeping costs basically unchanged, resulting in significant economic benefits.
The increasing commercial interest has led many developers to recognize the enormous development potential of low-wind-speed wind turbines. Especially at a time when the industry is facing bottlenecks and urgently needs transformation, new growth points are undoubtedly highly sought after, thus positively influencing the industry's development trends. Some developers have even stated frankly: "Envision's low-wind-speed intelligent wind turbine products are exactly what we need to continue investing in wind power and increase our wind power development efforts."
The success they found in low-wind-speed areas didn't stop them. They pondered: Where is the next blue ocean?
my country possesses abundant offshore wind power resources, but their development is insufficient. As of 2011, my country's installed offshore wind power capacity was only 250,000 kilowatts. With the development of offshore wind power technology and the increasing attention from the Chinese government, offshore wind power will become a key area for future development. It is predicted that my country's installed offshore wind power capacity will reach 5 million kilowatts in 2015, and will continue to increase at an average annual rate of 5 million kilowatts, reaching 30 million kilowatts by 2020. Some regions in my country are very suitable for offshore wind power resource development, representing a market size of trillions of yuan. For example, Jiangsu Province already has four offshore wind power bidding projects with a total installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts. However, China has consistently lacked highly reliable offshore wind turbine models to drive this market. Foreign offshore wind turbines are expensive and designed for the wind resources and marine geological conditions of European coastal areas, making them unsuitable for large-scale offshore wind power development in China. Therefore, domestic offshore wind farm developers have been hesitant to pursue this market.
Can a highly reliable and cost-effective intelligent offshore wind turbine be designed specifically for the characteristics of China's offshore wind energy sector, replacing and surpassing imported products?
Envision has provided a positive answer. In addition to possessing globally leading 4MW and 6MW offshore wind turbine technology, Envision also boasts the world's first partial pitch control technology. By significantly reducing the ultimate load by over 20%, it lowers the investment costs of wind farm towers and foundations, enabling an overall cost reduction of over 20% for offshore wind farms. Modular blade technology allows for customized rotor diameters to suit different wind resource conditions, maximizing wind energy capture and increasing the annual power generation of the turbine, thereby maximizing the owner's return on investment.
In October of this year, Envision's independently developed 3.6 MW GameChanger offshore wind turbine was successfully connected to the grid in Denmark, making Envision the first Chinese company to erect a wind turbine in the heart of my country's wind power industry.
"GameChanger, just like its name suggests, is a revolutionary and dream product. Its revolutionary nature lies in a series of groundbreaking innovative technologies, as well as the brand-new concept we have incorporated into it—intelligent control." According to Sun Jie, through the innovative application of intelligent sensors such as laser wind measurement and online vibration monitoring on offshore wind turbines, Envision enables the wind turbine control system to more comprehensively and accurately understand and predict the real-time operating status of the wind turbine, thereby taking corresponding intelligent control strategies in advance, improving the power generation and reliability of the wind turbine, and greatly reducing operation and maintenance costs.
Besides offshore wind turbine technology, one of the current bottlenecks in offshore wind power development is the high cost of project construction. Envision Energy addresses this challenge by leveraging the extensive experience accumulated at its global innovation center in Denmark in the planning, construction, and operation of offshore wind turbines and farms. Combined with my country's coastal wind resources and marine geological conditions, Envision Energy will not only supply cost-effective offshore wind turbines for my country's offshore wind power development, but also a complete set of highly economical smart solutions specifically designed for my country's coastal waters. These solutions include offshore wind turbine foundation design, construction, installation, and operation and maintenance, comprehensively reducing the cost of offshore wind power and making large-scale, economical offshore wind energy development possible.
Energy Management: Piloting a "Smart Wind Farm" Management System
In fact, the concept of "intelligence" is a timeless one for Envision. From early low-wind-speed "intelligent" wind turbines to the initial "intelligent" design and operation management of offshore "intelligent" wind turbines, and more recently, the complete concept of "intelligent wind farms," Envision has consistently practiced its philosophy of "using human intelligence to provide high-quality energy services to wind power companies."
“Many wind farms in China have encountered problems adapting to local conditions due to the use of foreign wind turbines, or have experienced frequent malfunctions due to the use of inferior turbines, resulting in a large amount of maintenance work. If timely warnings and solutions are not received, it will cause significant power loss and reduce the operating efficiency of the wind farm. Therefore, while exploring technological innovation in wind turbines, Envision is also striving to create an intelligent and efficient management platform for wind farms,” explained Gu Xiaohua, Business Director of Envision’s “Smart Wind Farm” software business.
As early as 2010, my country's total installed wind power capacity had already surpassed that of the United States. However, its power generation has lagged behind, reflecting that there is still considerable room for improvement in all aspects of my country's wind power development, from planning and design to installation, operation and maintenance.
According to Gu Xiaohua, the intelligent wind farm management system aims to help customers achieve advanced design, excellent operation, and a high degree of grid intelligence. Firstly, the system helps customers with early wind farm site selection, maximizing the utilization of local wind resources. During the wind turbine commissioning phase, it helps the turbines coordinate with the grid, efficiently executing grid commands. In terms of operation, it uses sensors and related technologies to monitor the turbine's status, predicting potential "sub-health" conditions, allowing wind farm operators to identify turbine problems earlier and address potential issues promptly when there is no wind, ensuring normal turbine operation. In terms of maintenance, the intelligent fault diagnosis system guides wind farm staff in the maintenance, diagnosis, and repair of wind turbine units.
"The system is primarily based on IoT and cloud computing technologies. Starting with building a management model suitable for the characteristics of wind power, it creatively integrates the latest wind power knowledge and management experience from both inside and outside the industry into a series of smart wind farm systems. This organically connects wind turbines, wind farms, power grids, equipment manufacturers, operators, and others with the monitoring center through sensors, data transmission equipment, and other means." Through new technological means, the smart wind farm management system aims to deeply integrate human "wisdom" into management, helping developers maximize power generation and reduce operation and maintenance costs, thereby improving the overall efficiency of wind farm management.
It is reported that leading domestic wind farm developers such as Longyuan, Datang, and Hebei Construction Investment have begun cooperating with Envision. Envision's Smart Wind Farm Management System successfully won a multi-million dollar contract with Atlantic Power in the United States, competing with internationally renowned software companies such as IBM and Aussie, to manage a 300 MW wind farm in Oklahoma. This project will leverage Envision's cloud platform in the United States to provide US wind farm customers with high-quality, convenient, and advanced comprehensive wind farm management services.
Currently, Envision's smart wind farm management system can provide remote asset management services for wind farms in my country, Europe, and the United States, improving their asset efficiency by at least 10%. In the next two decades, global wind and solar power assets will reach trillions of dollars, at which point the global energy management market will be worth trillions. Envision's smart wind farm management system will gradually expand to other new energy asset management fields, and even traditional energy fields such as thermal power, hydropower, and nuclear power, significantly improving asset returns and asset management levels, with a very promising future market application prospect.
Energy storage and utilization: Actively explore energy storage batteries and distributed energy technologies.
Therefore, reading about Envision Energy's entrepreneurial history is more like reading a history of blue ocean strategies in my country's smart energy industry. In energy production, Envision was the first to recognize the development value of low-wind-speed smart wind turbines and offshore smart wind turbines. Later, Envision found a breakthrough in smart wind farm management systems. Now, Envision is moving towards an even bigger goal, discovering a new direction for its development in smart energy system solutions.
Energy storage is a major technological bottleneck for the large-scale use of renewable energy, smart grids, and electric vehicles in the future. Whoever masters the world's leading energy storage technology will hold the dominant position and commanding heights in the future global strategic emerging industries, unlocking a huge market worth hundreds of billions or even trillions of US dollars.
According to reports, Envision's globally leading top-tier energy storage lithium-ion battery technology enables energy storage batteries to have a capacity five times greater than conventional lithium-ion batteries, while significantly reducing costs. Its lifespan and safety are far superior to similar products in the industry. It can be applied to large-scale energy storage power stations to smooth power output, shaving off peak loads and filling valleys, thereby improving system stability and power quality. It can also be used in small-scale home energy storage systems to store energy during off-peak hours and release it during peak demand, serving the purpose of peak shaving and valley filling. This is undoubtedly a boon for wind and solar power, which suffer from unstable power generation, and may greatly promote the large-scale application and development of renewable energy.
"With increasing global pressure to conserve energy and reduce emissions, my country urgently needs to further increase the proportion of renewable energy generation in its energy structure. For the past decade, my country has primarily adopted a large-scale centralized approach to connect renewable energy sources. However, with the frequent occurrence of large-scale wind curtailment incidents and wind power grid disconnection accidents, this approach is considered to have reached a certain technological bottleneck," Zhang Lei told reporters. "Therefore, my country needs to overcome the current dual limitations of technology and policy, and increase research and development and demonstration efforts in distributed renewable energy connection methods to further enhance the absorption capacity of renewable energy."
It is understood that Envision is currently actively participating in the demonstration construction and standard setting of smart microgrids in my country, exploring technological breakthroughs in distributed energy to expand the consumption of new energy sources, forming a complete set of solutions and standards, thereby opening up a huge microgrid market worth trillions of yuan.
This is Vision's next smart energy blue ocean strategy.
