Wind power in full swing, hurdles still exist
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Yang Qingshan understands the benefits of renewable energy -- for rich and poor alike.
The east China abalone farmer has become a millionaire supplying the luxury seafood to wealthy diners.
But it would never have been possible without the row of 19 massive wind turbines that sit alongside his fish farm off Putian city, Fujian Province.
Wind power has provided a stable electricity supply to Yang and more than 50,000 other people living on the island of Nanri ("the sun in the south" in Chinese) since 2006.
"Stable temperatures are important in abalone breeding, so electricity supply is a necessity for raising abalone," says Yang, 49.
Lin Yushu, an official with local development and reform commission, says the wind-generated power is also transmitted to homes in other towns of Putian city through undersea cables.
The city with more than 3 million residents is famous for its shoe, food processing, electronics and other industries.
Another 57 wind wheels are scheduled to be installed on the Nanri wind farm next year.
"Electricity generated by one of the 850-kilowatt wind wheels in one year is enough for local people's annual residential and business needs," says Lin.
Wind power plants not only help Chinese in some of the windiest towns in coastal and northern areas become richer like Yang, but keep towns like Nanri clean.
"The sea-based wind power turbines including the 57 wheels to be installed on Nanri island could save 67,000 tonnes of standard coal each year, which would emit almost 94,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually," Lin says.
The Nanri offshore wind power plant is of more than 100 wind farms built in China in the past five years, as the nation aims to reduce reliance on coal-fired power.
The government announced last month the goal of reducing carbon intensity per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent in 2020 from the level of 2005. China relied on coal for more than 68.7 percent of its energy supply last year.
Official figures show China's installed wind power capacity reached 12.17 million kilowatts last year, double that of a year earlier, and ranking fourth in the world.
"I do see changes every time I visit China. I guess the rate of change no longer surprises me, but astonishes me," says Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council.
The rapid growth of China's wind power sector also astonishes Shi Pengfei, vice-president of the China Wind Energy Association.
Shi says China will have another 10 million kilowatts of installed wind power capacity this year, and the total installed capacity will exceed 30 million by 2010, a decade ahead of the target set in 2007.
"Certainly the main driver has been government policy and clear signals it has sent to the market, and I'm sure the spirit of Chinese entrepreneurs has also contributed to the rate of growth," Sawyer says.
The central government announced last month it would endeavor to develop renewable and nuclear energies to increase the weight of the consumption of non-fossil-fuel power in China's total primary energy consumption to around 15 percent by 2020 from 9 percent by 2008.
The Chinese wind power installation and manufacturing sector have been boosted by aggressive government goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for global warming. But the industry also faces technical hurdles to its growth, Shi says.
"A great deal of wind power cannot be connected to the national power grid, because of transmission technology limitations," Shi says.
Sawyer says China must form a clear incentives and penalties system for the major transmission and distribution operators to enhance and build grids to accommodate the increasing proportion of wind power in the system.
"China also needs a clarity in market access rules, to ensure fair competition between Chinese and international players, both in the manufacturing sector and in the operation of wind projects," Sawyer says.
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