(Yicai Global) Aug. 31 -- US conglomerate General Electric's wind energy equipment making plant in northeastern China is expected to deliver its most orders yet this year, after 14 years in operation, as global demand for wind powered installations explodes.

"GE Renewable Energy signed contracts for 1,215 megawatts of wind turbines last year," Zhao Lin, general manager of the GE unit's China onshore wind power business, told Yicai Global. If all goes smoothly, this year should be our busiest year yet, he added.

Set up in 2006, the Shenyang, Liaoning province-based factory is also GE's largest onshore wind turbine assembly base in the Asia-Pacific region, and the firm's only plant with a full range of production capabilities. It had produced almost 3,000 wind turbines as of the end of July, one third of which were exported, Zhao added.

Earlier this month, GE Energy opened its second China plant in Puyang, central Henan province with a focus on low-speed wind turbines.

Henan province is the largest low-wind-speed market in China. By building the factory in Henan, we are close to a large number of our clients, Zhao said. This means we can supply them with equipment quickly and at a much lower cost than from the Shenyang factory, he added.

The Puyang plant also comprises a digital service center, a technical training center and a maintenance center which helps form an industrial ecosystem and drive the local development of related industries, Zhao said.

"We will not get into a price war. GE has never used price as a means of competition," Zhao added.

Boston-based GE has been operating in the power industry for a long time. Compared with local rivals, it is not a pure wind energy equipment maker, Zhao said. Its production, technology, research and development and services cover the entire energy industry. All of this helps the firm better judge future development trends and to make decisions from a global perspective, he added.

Two of the top five turbine makers in the world in terms of newly installed capacities last year are Chinese, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance's data. The top five are, in order, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Beijing-based Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, GE and Shanghai-based Envision Energy.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor