China - Germany to invest US$121m in energy projects

China and Germany will jointly invest about EUR 50 million (US$60 million dollars) to build a wind power plant in eastern China, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on expensive fossil fuels, reports and a German official said Friday. Five wind turbines with a power capacity of 5 megawatts each will be constructed off the coast of the eastern city of Qingdao, generating power when the city hosts the water events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The German Embassy in Beijing confirmed the two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding about the wind turbine project, as well as six other renewable energy projects, during the Sino-German Forum on Environment in Qingdao.

The total investment for all seven projects was about euro100 million (US$121 million), said an official, who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity. She emphasized that this was a tentative figure and it had not been decided how much each side would invest. The other agreements were on solar energy, biodiesel fuel, eco-friendly construction and environmental protection, she said. Zhu Guangyao, vice minister of the State Environmental Protection Agency, said sustainable development was a top priority for China, according to press reports. "A strong environmental policy could help to support further economic developments" in China, Mathias Machnig, Germany's secretary of state and environment minister, was quoted as saying.