Construction on a 100,000-kilowatt wind power project, the largest of its kind in China, has been launched in Pingtan County in the eastern coastal province of Fujian.

The 780-million-yuan (approximately US$95 million) project, the second-phase project of the Changjiang'ao Wind Power Plant, was expected to turn out 250 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually upon completion for not only Fujian Province, but also for Southeast Asia.

The state-owned Longyuan Power Group, which takes charge of the construction and operation of the project, did not reveal the time when the project will be completed.

Pingtan County has a land space of some 2,230 square kilometers where high-speed wind power can be developed into electricity. Changjiang'ao is one of the seven funnels in the county where the wind is the strongest. The potential installed capacity of wind power in Changjiang'ao is predicted to be somewhat 150,000 kilowatts annually.

The first phase project of the Changjiang'ao Wind Power Plant, with a capacity of 6,000 kilowatts, went into operation in October 2000.

(People's Daily May 18, 2004)