China will construct two hydropower stations and two wind farms with a total capacity of 2,001 megawatts, a move to develop clean and renewable energy, the country's top economic planner has said.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved the construction of the Luding Hydropower Station in Sichuan Province and the Dongjing Hydropower plant in Guizhou Province, two southwestern regions rich in water resource, according to a statement on the top planner's website on Thursday.

The Luding project contains four units of 230 megawatt each, while the Dongjing one is composed of four units each with 220 megawatt capacity.

The NDRC also nodded to two wind farms, one named Rudong in eastern Jiangsu Province and the other called Guyuan in northern Hebei Province. Each will have a capacity of 100.5 megawatts upon completion.

It was time to restructure the nation's energy mix by exploring renewable energy alternatives and boosting clean energy consumption, according to Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration.

"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," Zhang was quoted by China Daily as saying.

The unfolding global financial crisis has urged China to look for a more sustainable mode of economic development with lower energy consumption and diverse energy resources.

The 4 trillion-yuan (about US$585 billion) stimulus package issued by the government late last year includes a 210 billion-yuan investment in energy conservation and ecological engineering, according to the NDRC.

"Part of the 210 billion yuan spending distributed between November 2008 and March 2009 has already gone to local wind turbine manufacturing and household biogas in rural areas," said Ren Dongming, vice director of the Renewable Energy Development Center under the NDRC.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2009)