China - Huaneng Group to build world's largest offshore wind farm in 2011

The China Huaneng Group (CHNG) will inject 6 billion yuan ($881 million) into a wind power project in Jiangsu Province in the second half of 2011.

When completed, the offshore wind energy station will become the world's largest of its kind in terms of installed power capacity.

The wind farm is located 55 kilometers offshore, covering an area of 127 square kilometers. Work on the offshore wind power demonstration project in Dafeng city, Jiangsu province, has achieved initial success, Zhao Shiming, general manager with Huaneng Renewables said in Beijing on Monday.

The offshore wind turbines project, designed with an installed capacity of 300 MW, covers an area of 127 square kilometers. The construction and installation work of the project's offshore wind turbines was accomplished and the tower started to measure wind from Aug 15, Zhao said.

Project verification is expected to be completed by the second half of next year and then construction of the project will be started.

With total investments of six billion yuan (US$882 million), the project will generate 740 million kWh of clean energy annually after completion. That would save consumption of 250,000 tons of standard coal and 2.4 million cubic meters of water, and reduce carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and soot emission of 620,000, 6,000 and 2,500 tons respectively.

The company signed wind turbines procurement agreement with Sinovel Wind, now the world's third largest wind power maker, for the project, Zhao added.

Huaneng Renewables is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the country's top power producer China Huaneng Group, which was founded in 2002. Wind power installed capacity controlled by the company amounted to 1.55 million kW as of the end of 2009, accounting for nine percent of the Chinese market.