Jiangsu Province to Build World's Largest Wind Farm

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Authorities in China's Jiangsu Province announced earlier this month that they will increase investments and expand installed capacity of the Rudong County wind farm, making it likely to become the world's largest, according to Oriental Morning Post.

Construction on the First Phase of the Rudong project began in August 2004, with an investment of nearly 800 million RMB (US $96 million). The wind farm currently has an installed capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) and is expected to start production at the end of this year, with annual electricity generation of 230 gigawatt-hours (GWh).

The Second Phase of the project has also begun, with a similar investment and installed capacity. Developers expect the project to be completed in the first half of 2007, with an annual output of 224 GWh. Local authorities plan to invest another 500 million RMB ($60 million) and increase the capacity of this phase to 150 MW.

The Third Phase of the project, with a projected installed capacity of 800 MW, is currently undergoing assessments for its viability, but is expected to see an increase in investments from 6 billion RMB to 8 billion RMB (US $1 billion). If all three phases are completed according to plan, the Rudong wind farm will be the world's largest wind power project built to date, with a total capacity amounting to 1,050 MW.

Jiangsu Province, located in the Yangtze River Delta region that also harbors Zhejiang Province and the city of Shanghai, is a major industrial and commercial base and one of China's biggest power consumers and shortage sufferers. Construction of the Rudong wind farm is key to easing the region's energy tensions and powering its economic growth. The potential for wind power development is huge, as the province is blessed with 22 GW of potentially exploitable wind resources, nearly one-tenth of China's total. Rudong County is an ideal location for harnessing wind from the sea, with its 106-kilometer shoreline and 7,941 hours a year of effective wind speed.