China to Boost Development of Wind Power

China will give a major boost to the development of wind power to benefit 23 million people living in hinterland areas or on the coastal islands by 2010.

The development of wind power is regarded as the second liberation for the farmers and herdsmen living in remote areas, where electricity are badly needed, according to Sinoprojects.com.

The leading website on investment projects quoted officials at the State Development Planning Commission as saying that the interior areas and coastal islands boast abundant wind-power resources, but are short of other resources like coal and water for power generation.

The benefited areas include the western and eastern parts of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the northern part of Qinghai Province, eastern and northern parts of Inner Mongolia, and the northeastern parts of Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces.

The islands disperse in the coastal provinces of Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Liaoning.

Now most of the country's equipment for wind power grids are imported.

The State will take measures to support the development of wind power. Imports of wind-power equipment will be duty-free and the electricity generated from the wind power projects will put for sale.

China welcomes foreign investments in the development of wind power resources.

In the past few years, about US$200 million, or 60 percent of the total funds for the country's development of wind power resources, have come from foreign investors.

Overall 19 big wind power generators, with a generating capacity of 130,000 kw have been installed.

Funding for China's wind-power projects includes US$600 million in loans and donation from the World Bank and US$300 million from Spain.

Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States will provide China with about US$2 billion in next five years to help China develop new energy resources including wind power.

China, which boasts abundant wind power resources of 253 million kw, started research and development of wind power resources in the 1970s. A total of 21 wind power stations by the had been built by the end of 1998 and another four are under construction, according to Sinoprojects.



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