Shanghai is expected to introduce its Green Electricity Scheme this year, mainly targeting large non-household consumers, officials say.

Under the plan, which focuses on wind and solar power, the local government will encourage businesses to buy green electricity--energy produced from renewable resources such as wind and solar power--at a slightly-higher price, according to an energy policy forum held on Sunday.

Details, such as the pricing, have yet to be finalized, but companies that voluntarily purchase green power will be granted honor certificates by the local government. A list of participating enterprises will be announced by major local media to enhance their reputations.

Green electricity has been developed in the Netherlands, the United States, Australia and Germany.

The Shanghai Economic Commission authorized the Shanghai Energy Conservation Supervision Center to design the green electricity scheme in cooperation with the Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company last September.

“Shanghai is expected to become a positive example for other economically developed coastal cities in China,” Douglas Ogden, executive vice president of the US-based Energy Foundation, told local media at the forum.

According to the Shanghai government, a 3,400-kilowatt windmill and a 10-kilowatt solar power generator have been erected in the coastal area of Fengxian District, in the city’s southern suburbs.

In addition, larger wind-power facilities under construction at the city’s Chongming Island and Nanhui District have been designed with capacity of more than 20,000 kilowatts. So far, they represent the largest windmills on the mainland, and are expected to be completed later this year, according to the company.

The windmills, with a total investment of 200 million yuan (US$24 million), are a cooperative project between the State Power Corporation and the World Bank to promote the country’s utilization of abundant wind power along the coast, said Hu Chengyu, an official with Shanghai Power, a subsidiary of the State Power Corporation and the main developer.

Hu points out that the city’s green electricity “will be only a very small part of the city’s total electricity supply” and will not help ease the current power pinch in Shanghai.

But the green electricity program may help improve the public awareness of sustainable development and environmental protection, said Hu.

(China Daily March 23, 2004)