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Hurdles drag wind power sector

By Zheng Lifei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-19 08:47

China's wind power industry is set to grow, but hurdles need to be cleared if it is to catch up with global players, say analysts.

Since the first wind farm was erected and connected to the grid in 1986 in East China'sShandongProvince, China has built 61 such facilities, according to figures from Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association.

The figure may have reached 80 by the end of last year, with installed wind power capacity amounting to 2,300 megawatts, making China the world's seventh-largest producer, said Chen Yicong, a wind energy industry analyst at Southwest Securities.

But impressive growth still pales in comparison with the country's potential, experts said at a recent industry forum inShanghai.

China boasts a 1,000-gigawatt reserve of exploitable wind energy, of which 250 gigawatts are on land and 750 gigawatts offshore, according to Shi Pengfei from China Hydropower Consultants Ltd, aBeijing-based consultancy.

The installed wind power capacity only accounted for 0.38 percent of the country's total power generation capacity in 2005, according to Energy Research Institute, affiliated with the country's top economic policymaking agencyNational Development and Reform Commission.

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It estimates that the proportion was still under 0.5 percent last year. In comparison, in Denmark, which has one of the world's most developed wind power industry, 20 percent of the installed power capacity comes from wind power. In India, the figure is 3 percent, according to Chen.

China is aiming to increase its wind power capacity to 30,000 megawatts by 2020, up from the previous goal of 20,000 megawatts, according to a blueprint issued in 2005 by the NDRC.

Many experts think the goal can be met much earlier if the major hurdles to wind power development are removed.

In addition to the natural limits associated with wind power generation such as the need for sparsely populated areas and the unstable nature of wind, which may affect the stability of the grid, there are other hindrances, said Chen.

"The costs of construction of wind farms in China are significantly higher than that of conventional power plants because of the exorbitant prices of imports," Chen said.

Wind power rates, therefore, are much higher than those of hydropower and coal- or gas-fired power, making investors less inclined to enter the market.