Chinese wind turbine maker Ming Yang Smart Energy (MYSE) has signed an agreement with local government to build a 1.3GW renewable-battery hybrid plant near the city of Tong Liao in China's Inner Mongolia province, local newspaper Tong Liao Daily said.

The project targets to eventually build up to 1000MW in wind power and 300MW solar, linked to a 320MW lithium-ion battery storage system, for which the company has pledged to invest ¥9Bn ($1.29bn).

Construction of the project is scheduled to kick off in August 2020, with a plan to grid connect 300MW-500MW in four months and complete the full project by the end of 2021, deputy general manager of MYSE International Zhang Jian said on Linked-in.

The hybrid plan is the most recent of mega wind projects announced in the northern province of China, where local government in 2019 was allowed to approve large wind power projects again after a temporary ban on them by the central government in Beijing.

Including Ming Yang's hybrid plan, at least 11 other mega renewable projects with a combined wind capacity of 21.4GW (plus 1.5GW in solar capacity) have secured approval this year, Recharge understands from various project announcements.

Ten of these projects are planned to be larger than 1GW each. Among them is a wind complex with 6GW in capacity being developerd by State Power Investment Corp (SPIC), which will be the largest onshore wind farm in the world.

Inner Mongolia is China’s largest wind power producing region, with 28.99GW in completed installations by the end of September that account for 15% of China’s total wind capacity.

However, the construction momentum sparked market concern for potential wind curtailment of the region in the future.

The northern inland province so far remained an “orange” region in China’s wind alert system, which labels the investment risks of each province with the colour green, orange, or red, due to grid-connection risks.

The province in 2017 had been market as a “red” region, of highest risk by the central government in Beijing, and and was temporarily banned from issuing any new wind power permits. But after the construction of previously approved projects had resumed in 2018, Beijing upgraded the province to the “orange” tier level again.