China WindPower outlines big expansion in installations
November 17, 2009
By John Duce Hong Kong
China WindPower, a Hong Kong-traded renewable energy company, plans to build between eight and 10 wind farms annually in the coming years as China expands the use of the cleaner form of power.
Each project would cost 45 million yuan (R50m) and the firm was likely to fund the expansion without selling shares or bonds, executive director Samantha Ko said yesterday.
China aims to swell its capacity to make power from wind fivefold by 2020 to help combat climate change, according to the government. The country's wind-power capacity would rise to 100 000 megawatts by then from 20 000MW next year, the National Energy Administration said in May.
"President Hu Jintao himself stressed the need to develop renewable energy forms earlier this year, so we are confident about prospects for wind power in China," Ko said.
The nation's targets for wind power could reach 150 000MW by the end of the next decade, higher than what the government previously suggested.
Interim profit almost doubled to HK$107m (R103m) in the six months to September, the firm said yesterday. Revenue added 52 percent to HK$345m.
Ko said all the firm's wind farms were in areas of the country easily connected to the grid, replying to concerns that some projects in China could not be easily hooked up to the nation's electricity supply.
The cost of wind turbines was falling, while the quality of Chinese-manufactured equipment was rising, amid increased demand, she said.
Chinese turbines that cost about 6 000 yuan per kilowatt produced last year now cost about 5 000 yuan, which favoured wind farm developers, she said. - Bloomberg
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