China: Renewable energy sector gets a big push

China will construct two hydropower stations and two wind farms with a total capacity of 2,001 megawatts in a bid to increase the share of renewable energy in the national energy matrix.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on its website yesterday that it has approved for construction the Luding Hydropower Station (four units of 230 megawatt each) in Sichuan province and the Dongjing Hydropower plant in Guizhou province, consisting of four units each with 220 megawatt capacity.
The two wind farms, the Rudong wind farm in Jiangsu province and Guyuan wind power station in Hebei province, are of the same capacity, at 100.5 megawatts.

Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference that it was “time to restructure the nation’s energy mix” by exploring renewable energy alternatives and boosting clean energy consumption.

China should increase investment in the renewable energy sector, even though the current financial crisis has temporarily cushioned the conflict between energy supply and demand, he said.

China Daily