As China enters the critical summer peak period for ensuring energy supply, members of the Operation and Maintenance Team 1 at CHN Energy Longyuan Power's Huangang Wind Farm in Jiangsu Province, located in eastern China, are working under the scorching sun to meticulously inspect equipment, ensuring the stable delivery of green electricity and keeping homes cool throughout the summer.
Operation and Maintenance Team 1 at Huangang Wind Farm
Stationed along the coast of the Yellow Sea, they are the guardians of the wind farm's 105 wind turbines. Team leader Bian Haidong describes his crew as people who stand in the wind, understand how to work with it, and have spent years in constant dialogue with it.
From "working by instinct" to "working by checklist"
Operation and Maintenance Team 1 was established in 2011. Faced with vast coastal mudflats and dozens of newly installed wind turbines, the team's 37 employees had no existing experience to draw upon.
Team leader Li Bin recalled that on one occasion, after a wind turbine reported a fault, three technicians spent hours climbing and troubleshooting, only to discover that a small relay had come loose. He realized that with a standardized inspection checklist, the team could have identified the problem much more efficiently.
Employees inspect equipment according to standardized checklists.
That experience led to the creation of the team's three checklists: a maintenance checklist, an overhaul checklist and a pre-climb inspection checklist. Each checklist specifies every detail, from the required torque for each bolt to the insulation values for electrical circuits. Every task is also assigned to a responsible technician, an inspector and a reviewer.
After the checklists were introduced, technicians developed the habit of reviewing every item before starting work. Day after day, the entire team has remained committed to precision in every detail.
By 2025, several senior technicians had taken the lead in developing a detailed maintenance manual for the wind farm's aging imported turbines, guiding the entire team through systematic inspections of each unit. What initially took a full week to maintain a single turbine was reduced to just two or three days with the help of the manual.
"Our team has achieved more than 5,000 consecutive days of safe operation as of the first half of 2026," said team leader Bian Haidong. "Over the past 14 years, we have not experienced a single safety incident."
From "taking on challenges" to "harnessing the wind"
The pitch system, variable-frequency system, master control system and drivetrain are the core components of a wind turbine and also the parts most prone to failure. The team refers to them collectively as the four critical systems, making them the primary focus of technical improvements.
Once, Turbine No. 71 repeatedly reported pitch system faults. Technical specialist Gu Yukun and three younger team members spent an entire day inside the nacelle, where temperatures exceeded 40°C, dismantling wiring, testing signals, and checking software programs. They ultimately identified interference affecting the signal of a concealed encoder.
To strengthen monitoring of these critical components, the team decided to build its own testing platform. During the day, members carried out routine inspections and repairs as usual. After work, they gathered in a makeshift laboratory to continue development. Winter nights on the coastal mudflats were bitterly cold, yet they persevered through countless late nights, overcoming one technical challenge after another. After more than two months of dedicated effort, the team successfully developed its own wind turbine pitch system testing platform.
Throughout 2025, Operation and Maintenance Team 1 completed more than 10 innovation projects. These seemingly modest technical improvements generated more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of additional electricity—enough to supply approximately 10,000 households for an entire year.
From "working alone" to "passing the torch"
In 2023, former serviceman Cai Pengcheng joined the team. Faced with the complexity of the wind turbine equipment, he initially had no idea where to begin. During every field inspection, his mentor Wang Lei took him into the nacelle, explaining the operating principles of each component one by one. Whenever parameter fluctuations or unusual noises occurred, Wang taught him how to diagnose the problems on site. After work, the two remained in the break room reviewing fault cases from previous years and carefully analyzing operational videos together.
Senior employees provide one-on-one mentoring to new technicians.
After gaining hands-on experience alongside his mentor day after day, Cai is now able to independently handle a wide range of routine faults. He has also taken the initiative to participate in equipment improvement projects and has become one of the team's capable young technical backbones.
This is the team's mentoring program. Veteran employees and new recruits formally establish mentor-apprentice partnerships, with one dedicated to teaching and the other committed to learning. Practical skills are passed on through hands-on fieldwork, while technical training reinforces professional competence. One generation mentors the next, ensuring continuous knowledge transfer. For 14 years, this tradition of passing on experience has never been interrupted.
Technical specialist Ge Jian said, "None of us is a lone hero. We are a team, standing shoulder to shoulder and supporting one another as we move forward."
Day after day, the team's unwavering focus during equipment maintenance and determination to overcome technical challenges are reflected in every kilowatt-hour of electricity they generate. Along the coast of the Yellow Sea, they continue to embody the mission and responsibility of a new generation of wind power professionals. The wind continues to blow, the turbine blades keep turning, and the story of these guardians of wind power goes on.
