China's coastal regions have an enormous potential to develop wind energy to ease electricity shortage, World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) president said at a recent forum held in Jiangsu.

"China has a long coastline, almost third of the country's border faces the ocean, which gives some advantage in creating the offshore wind energy, compared with the inland countries," said Preben Maegarrd, WWEA president at the forum on green energy in this capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Construction of the world's largest wind energy project was launched last Friday in Dongtai, Jiangsu. Installed with an annual capacity of 200,000 kilowatt, the plant will provide 420 million kw/h of electricity for local people after its full establishment.

"China has already realized the importance of renewable energy, but compared with other developing countries, such as India, China still need to do more in the field of wind energy," said Maegarrd.

He pointed out that the whole world has witnessed the fascinating speed of China's economic development, but as any other fast-developing economies, China already faced energy problem.

Electricity shortage has already become a major economic bottleneck in China's economic powerhouses in the coastal regions, where local economy has sustained double-digit growth for the past decade.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2005)