China - Rowing ahead on Wind Power

China plans to triple its wind power capacity over the next two years in line with the central government's goal of promoting clean energy and more sustainable economic development.

China's total wind power capacity now stands at 6,000 megawatts, but by end 2008 this would have reached 10,000 Mw. And by 2010, the central government will have boosted wind power production to 20,000 Mw, estimates China's Energy Research institute (ERI).

China's rapidly expanding economy -- its average annual GDP growth has been surging at around ten percent over the past five years -- has made it a major energy consumer.

China depends primarily on coal, an abundant and cheap indigenous energy resource. In the next 20 years, as China's economy continues to rise, the Energy Information Administration forecasts that the demand for coal will grow at an annual rate of 3.5 percent. But coal-fired power plants boost carbon emissions that hasten global warming. The World Bank reports that China has 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, largely due to high coal use.

Global warming and consequent climate change are taken seriously by the Chinese government. Already, the melting of glaciers in Tibet and Xinjiang and increased temperatures in western China threaten to reduce the rain-fed rice yields. China's coastal areas have also suffered from extreme storm surges in the past few years that have been attributed to climate change.

Compared to leading wind energy producers and consumers such as Germany, Spain and the United States, China's installed capacity is still low.

As the proverb quotes “If there is no wind, row.” China is all set to row in wind power.

- Anand Varadaraja