The EDF group and its Chinese partner, China Energy Investment Corporation (CEI), have announced the commissioning of the Dongtai V offshore wind farm, with an installed capacity of 200 MW. Located in the China Sea off the coast of Jiangsu province, north of Shanghai, its construction took 20 months.  

With the commissioning of the Dongtai IV wind farm in December 2019, with a capacity of 300 MW, the Group now operates 500 MW of offshore wind power in China. Installed about 40 km from the coast of Jiangsu province, the most advanced in this technology, the 125 turbines of the Dongtai IV and V parks will provide renewable electricity equivalent to the annual electricity needs of 2 million Chinese.

The joint company, 37.5% -owned by CEI and the EDF group, operates the two Dongtai IV and V wind farms. It is the first Sino-foreign joint venture dedicated to the development and operation of wind power projects in sea ​​in China.

These successive commissionings demonstrate the rapid and sustained growth of the offshore wind market in China. At the end of 2020, the country was ranked second in the world in terms of installed capacity with 9.9 GW. Its ambition is to install more than 40 GW by 2030 with a view to carbon neutrality in 2060.

The EDF group brings to the Dongtai project its recognized expertise in the offshore wind sector, with more than 10 years of experience and a portfolio of more than 6.5 GW of projects in operation, under construction and in development, also in Europe, the historical cradle of offshore wind power, as well as in the United States and China, markets with major potential. A long-time partner of China, the EDF group has been present there for more than thirty-five years, and operates in other segments of the energy market such as nuclear, thermal, distribution, heating and air conditioning networks. .

For Bruno Bensasson, Executive Director of the EDF group in charge of the Renewable Energies Division and Chairman and CEO of EDF Renouvelables: 
“The EDF group is pleased to strengthen its historical presence in China through the completion of the Dongtai offshore wind project alongside from our Chinese partner CEI. We are committed to supporting the country in its energy ambitions and to contributing to the development of carbon-free electricity. This new Dongtai V offshore wind project contributes to the success of the EDF CAP 2030 strategy, which aims to double its net installed capacity in renewable energies in the world between 2015 and 2030 to increase it from 28 GW to 60 GW."

The EDF Group in China

Present in China for more than 35 years, the EDF Group operates in several segments of the energy market:

Nuclear: The joint venture owned by China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) and EDF has built and operates the two EPR reactors at the Taishan nuclear power plant (3.5 GW). The first of these reactors was commissioned in December 2018 and the second in September 2019. The plant provides low-carbon electricity to around 5 million Chinese consumers. EDF also provides assistance to the CGN group for the operation of all of its fleet.

Renewable energies: Since 2016, the Group has been active through its subsidiary EDF Renouvelables in the production of wind (land and sea) and solar electricity (production distributed on the sites of commercial and industrial customers). The gross capacity of its generating assets now stands at 2 GW.

Energy services: EDF has been operating a heat distribution network since 2016 which supplies 8 million m² of housing in the city of Sanmenxia (Henan province). In the neighboring town of Lingbao, EDF operates a 35 MW biomass cogeneration plant that provides heat and electricity. In 2021, the Group commissioned two centralized air conditioning networks for hotels in a tourist area on the tropical island of Hainan and for the new business district in the city of Jinan (capital of Shandong province). EDF also manages 100,000 light points in the city of Kunming (southwest China).

Thermal: EDF holds minority stakes in three companies operating thermal power stations.