View over Dan Nan wind farm in Nan'ao, China. This province has the best wind resources in China and is already home to several industrial scale wind farms. China is investing heavily in wind power to meet its growing energy needs.
Energy Bureau Director of the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC), Xu Dingming said: "The development of renewable
energy plays a crucial strategic role in the power supply of China.
Wind energy growth in China is now on a fast track and globally we
believe that wind power will become the primary alternative energy
in the future."
According to the CREIA report, Wind Force 12 in China, China's
current wind energy plan is to reach 20 Gigawatts (GW) (2) by 2020.
Germany, the world wind energy leader today, has just under 17GW.
However experts within the Chinese industry believe that 40GW can
be delivered within 15 years; rising to ten times this by 2050.
This scale of wind power would need 20,000 typical modern wind
turbines by 2020 and the investment generated could be worth USD 40
billion; putting China on track to become the world's biggest wind
energy market by 2020.
The report goes on to highlight the full extent of China's total
wind energy resources.
Li Junfeng, Director of CREIA and the report's lead author said,
"According to the China Meteorological Administration there is
enough viable wind resource in China to power the whole country
completely. The capacity of wind potential in viable windy
locations in China could match current total national capacity of
all China's existing power stations combined, four times over."
Greenpeace and the EWEA co-sponsored the report, which was
produced by CREIA after they were inspired by the renewable energy
vision laid out in European reports like the original Wind Force
12. Both Greenpeace and EWEA have been involved in consultations on
China's first Renewable Energy Law, which comes into force on
January 1 and is widely expected to mark the take off of the
Chinese wind industry.
Steve Sawyer of Greenpeace said: "Our collective future depends
upon us helping China develop wind power and other clean energy
technologies faster than 'business as usual'. Climate change and
energy security demand it. We will only avoid dangerous climate
change if the rich countries get their own energy house in order
and reduce emissions dramatically while at the same time assisting
not only China, but the whole of the developing world to meet their
energy needs sustainably. It's time for the world to support China
and put Chinese wind power on an even faster track."
EWEA President, Prof. Arthouros Zervos (3) said, "EWEA is
working with our partners at CREIA to help facilitate wind energy
development in China. This first comprehensive Chinese industry
report shows a better path is possible for China's energy future.
Wind power is already delivering the goods for millions of people
worldwide; China is rapidly becoming one the world's most important
wind energy markets, there is major potential here for growth."
To mark the launch of the report and celebrate the coming of the
international conference to Beijing, Chinese Greenpeace volunteers
staged a welcoming event at Beijing's Capital University of
Economics and Business. One hundred volunteers lay on the ground to
form the shape of a giant Chinese character 'feng' meaning 'wind'.
In front of the human wind symbol were banners in English and
Chinese calling for 'Clean Energy Now'. The event follows several
weeks of campus advocacy calling young people in China to support
renewable energy via the multilingual website www.surewind.org.
CREIA is the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association and
brings together national and international project developers and
investors; bridges regulatory authorities and the industry; and
works to accelerate the development of Chinese renewable
energy.
EWEA, the European Wind Energy Association, is the voice of the
European wind industry. The combined strength of over 230 members
from 40 countries makes EWEA the world's largest renewable energy
association. Its members include manufacturers who cover 98% of the
global market, component suppliers, research institutes, national
wind and renewables associations, developers, electricity
providers, finance and insurance companies and consultants.
Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses
non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental
problems to force solutions that are essential to a green and
peaceful future.
Other contacts: Yu Jie, Greenpeace China Climate and Energy Campaigner: + 86 139 1012 4771Wang Xiaojun (Tom), Greenpeace China Communications: +86 139 1090 2617Angelika Pullen, GWEC, in Beijing, +32 473 947 966Luisa Colasimone, EWEA, in Brussels, +32 485 145 411
VVPR info: Pictures of the young people of Beijing’s welcoming event for the BIREC conference are available from Martin Baker, Greenpeace China Images Unit: + 852 9014 5259;
Notes: (1) BIREC is the global renewable energy conference that follows on from the April 2004 Bonn conference. The hosting of the conference by China is significant; indicating China’s continued active role in global clean energy development; following China’s ambitious targets for renewable energy announced at Bonn; and preceding the imminent coming into force of China’s first Renewable Energy Law.(2) A gigawatt (GW) is a unit of generating capacity. It represents 1000 megawatts (MW) or 1 million kilowatts (kW). Electricity output is measured in kW, MW or GW hours; which are what you get with one GW, MW or kW of generating capacity running at maximum for one hour. A typical large scale conventional power station is around 1200 MW or 1.2 GW.(3) Prof. Arthouros Zervos, President of EWEA, GWEC and EREC, is also Vice-Chairman of REN21. During the BIREC 2005, he will be chairing the Wind Manufacturers Panel of the Business Forum. Professor Zervos has more than two decades of high-level expertise in policy, science, research and technology across the European renewable energy sector. He has led the key European renewable energy bodies.and has acted as policy advisor to Governments, EU bodies and policy fora.
Exp. contact date: 2005-11-10 00:00:00