China - Wind power projects amounting to 2.4GW planned

Inner Mongolia's wind capacity to get a boost though the region already leads the nation with the most wind generation capacity.
The China-based China Huaneng Group has signed a contract with the Tongliao government in eastern Inner Mongolia to construct a 500 megawatt wind power station.

According to the contract, the China Huaneng Group is expected to invest RMB 5 billion ($735 million USD) in the project, which is expected to be finished by 2010.

The Inner Mongolia, China-based National Energy Board has also approved a plan to construct a 1.9 gigawatt wind power base in the Damaoqi region.

A recent report issued by China's National Energy Administration cited the Inner Mongolia region for having the most operational wind generation capacity in the country with 1,590 MW. China expects to build several hundred wind farms and wind power bases composed of several wind farms in northern China. The country is expected to situate wind power bases with installed capacities of 1,000 MW and 10,000 MW in Inner Mongolia.

In September, Beijing's China Power announced plans to build 300 to 1,000 MW of wind power in Inner Mongolia (see China Power plans 1,000 MW wind project).

At the end of 2007 China had 4.03 GW of wind power capacity, accounting for roughly 0.6 percent of the country's total power generation. China has wind farms in 20 provinces or regions.

In June the China Huaneng Group started building the country's largest wind farm, with an installed capacity of 300 MW, in the northeastern Liaoning province. The wind farm is expected to start generating power before the end of the year and ramp up to producing 600 GW hours of electricity per year.