Wind-generated electricity is gaining a strong following in China, with more and more local governments beginning to see the value of the cheaper and cleaner technology.

Putian in east China's Fujian Province has just signed a contract to develop a 900-million-yuan (US$108.7 million) wind-powered electricity plant in five years, the first of its kind in the coastal city.

"For an area like Putian, which can have as many as 300-odd days a year with winds of more than Force 4, wind power stations are a good solution to meet the shortfall in local electricity," Fang Chaoyang, a resource official with the Xiuyu District of Putian said yesterday.

The project is designed to generate 289 million kilowatt-hours a year.

Last week, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China began construction of its first wind-powered electricity project located at the southern end of the Helanshan mountain range, where it can make use of the strong winds whose average speed is 6.3 meters per second.

The first phase of the project, costing 220 million yuan (US$26.6 million), is expected to be completed before the end of this year. It will have an electricity generating capacity of 30,000 kilowatts.

But that capacity can be expanded to 300,000 kilowatts in a decade, according to Liu Yingkuan from the Ningxia Power Co.

He said using wind to generate electricity is not only cleaner than burning coal, it saves water, essential to those regions suffering from severe water shortages, slows the powerful winds of the area, while the windmills themselves provide an added tourist attraction to the area.

As for wind-driven generators, Fang said: "The problem is not the price, but the quality." Since the equipment accounts for a major portion of the investment for a wind powered station, the cost of the generated electricity will be considerably reduced if the equipment can function well for a long period.

Wang Shirong, an official with the Institute of Wind Power Technology under the Shenyang Polytechnic University in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, agreed that Chinese producers of wind-driven generators are having a hard time competing with their foreign counterparts. But he said they are working on projects: "Domestic wind power is too huge a market to lose."

(China Daily June 12, 2003)