Construction of China’s first 10-GW (Gigawatt) wind power site got underway on August 8th -  one component of the country’s large-scale drive towards embracing and implementing new clean energy technologies. 

Overall Chinese wind power capacity currently stands at 12 Gigawatts, but the aim is to increase this almost 10-fold within the next decade, and the build of this new wind power facility is one way through which this will be achieved.   Its development is taking place in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, China, and five more, equal-capacity sites will follow in wind-prevalent areas including Inner Mongolia and Hebei. 

Wind Energy in China

China ranks among the world’s top CO2 emitters, and only one other nation uses more energy.  The need for and potential uses of renewable energy sources like wind energy in China are therefore vast. 

Construction of the wind power facility at Jiuquan will take place over two stages, the first of which will  be built up to start generating power from next year onwards.  20 developers will be involved in this preliminary phase, according to information delivered to the media by Gansu’s vice governor, Feng Jianshen – and these include Datang International Power and Huaneng Power International, along with a sextet of organisations based outside China. 

Here’s a bulleted outline of both phases in energy terms

• Phase 1:  an initial sub-4-GW site.  Comprised of a pair of 100 Megawatt wind farms along with 18 200 Megawatt farms
• Phase 2:  a follow-up stage to be commenced from 2010 onwards.  6+ GW capacity, made up from 40 200 Megawatt farms. 

Chinese Wind Power

With the introduction of these new Chinese wind power technologies, Jiuquan’s total energy from wind power will stand as follows (projected figures as per Mr Feng):

• 2009/present – 660 Megawatts
• 2010 -5.16 Gigawatts
• 2015 -12.71 Gigawatts
• 2020 – 20 Gigawatts
• Possible future – 40 Gigawatts

In July 2009, China unveiled unprecedented tariffs for new renewable energy projects, although some critics expressed doubt that these measures would be attractive enough to encourage investors.