Chinese island of Nan’ao tapping into wind power

Windmills line the mountain ridges of the picturesque southern Chinese island of Nan’ao, sending power into the grid of Guangdong province, the world’s manufacturing center. And soon the tiny island, located 200 miles northeast of Hong Kong, will be home to China’s first offshore wind farm as the world’s seventh-largest economy seeks to end crippling power shortages and choking air pollution. China’s parliament passed a renewable energy law in February, which experts say should attract investors to clean power. The law, effective next year, sets tariffs in favor of non-fossil energy, such as wind, water and solar power. . “Because of its sheer size," said Robin Oakley, a Beijing-based Greenpeace campaign manager for climate and energy issues, "if China enters the game -- both as the world’s leading market and in the long run as the world’s leading producer -- it could easily transform the whole renewable energy sector worldwide.”

Greenpeace estimated Chinese wind power potential at 1 million megawatts (MW), more than twice China’s current total installed power generating capacity of 440,700 MW. But with the primary source of power -- coal -- delivering 70 percent of China’s electricity, there is a long way to go before the young wind power industry can establish a full place in China’s energy mix. Still, China’s turn towards non-fossil energy comes at a time when the country is wrestling with its worst power crunch in decades. More than two-thirds of its provinces suffered blackouts last year due to a shortage of generators, coal and transport links. Far from China’s mines and hit hard by the power crunch, Guangdong became the first Chinese province last year to introduce fixed prices for wind energy, a policy common among countries with rapid growth in wind energy, such as Denmark.

“The security regarding the tariff is the number one issue for making sure wind development projects take place,” said Wim Lansink, from Shantou Dan Nan Wind Power Co. Ltd., which is developing Nan’ao’s 100-MW offshore wind farm. “I do believe if it is successful here -- and it looks to be - then other provinces will follow,” the general manager told Reuters in Shantou, a coastal city in northern Guangdong. Shantou Dan Nan, a joint venture between Dutch power utility Nuon and power authorities of Shantou city, has run a 24-MW wind farm on Nan’ao since 1998. It is developing five wind power projects in China, including two others in Guangdong.