The construction of the second phase of the Jiangsu Rudong Wind Power Project recently began in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, marks a milestone in the nation's power sector by increasing power output and decreasing pollution.

After its completion in 2007, the project - developed by GE Energy Group - will add 150,000 kilowatts of wind-generated power to China.

Experts also expect it to reduce 246,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 895 tons of sulfur dioxide from China's air annually.

"Chinese government is actively encouraging the development of renewable energy, which is set to fuel the economic take-off in China," said Robert Gleitz, manager of the Wind Power Department of the GE Energy Group.

"It is a world-level project, an indicator of GE's commitment to China's clean energy sector," he said.

The wind power plant, approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2002, is situated in the plain in northern Jiangsu, 50 kilometers adjacent to the East China Sea.

This project was launched to implement the nation's Renewable Energy Law enacted in February this year.

China's Renewable Energy Development Center has mapped out a huge plan to develop wind power. By 2010, the installed capacity of wind power will reach 6 million kilowatts, and by 2020, 30 million kilowatts.

The current wind power accounts for about 0.17 percent of the installed power generating capacity in China, and there are only 40 wind power plants with a power generating capacity of 764,000 kilowatts, according to People's Daily.

But China is a nation with abundant wind power resources, and now it is striving to utilize wind power and other renewable energy to meet the rising demand for energy.

In recent years, the Chinese government has offered preferential taxation policy to domestic and foreign investors, fair bidding competition and standard equipment regulation to encourage the development and utilization of renewable energy.

GE, in co-operation with Jiangsu Nantong Longyuan Wind Power Co, is providing 100 sets of wind blowers each with an installed capacity of 1,500 kilowatts. Next year, 67 sets will be put into service and in 2007, 33 more will be added.

Besides providing equipment, GE will also offer technology instruction, and training services.

Five large wind power projects by GE in Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanghai and Xinjing Uygur Autonomous Region have already helped add 145,500 kilowatts power to China.

The Jiangsu project will add a total of power contribution to China to 300,000 kilowatts, meeting the demand for 300,000 families in China.

Every set of the 1.5-megawatt blowers provided by GE will satisfy the demand of 1,500 families.

Great potential

Windmills have far more potential for generating electricity in developing countries than expected, cites a recent study by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The UNEP has spent US$9.3 million on its research that developed new wind maps for 19 developing countries from China to Nicaragua; the program discovered about 13 percent of the land area in those developing countries has potential for wind power development.

Previously, just one percent of developing nations was considered sufficient windy, discouraging governments and investors from considering non-polluting sources as an alternative to burning oil, coal or natural gas, according to a recent Reuters' report.

The wind power will significantly relieve poorer nations from high bills for oil imports, according to the UNEP's report.

Among the group, China has taken the lead in developing wind power resource, according to experts in the world environmental protection circle.

(China Daily December 19, 2005)