Shanghai is expected to introduce its Green Electricity Scheme
this year, mainly targeting large non-household consumers,
officials say.
Under the plan, which focuses on wind and solar power, the local
government will encourage businesses to buy green
electricity--energy produced from renewable resources such as wind
and solar power--at a slightly-higher price, according to an energy
policy forum held on Sunday.
Details, such as the pricing, have yet to be finalized, but
companies that voluntarily purchase green power will be granted
honor certificates by the local government. A list of participating
enterprises will be announced by major local media to enhance their
reputations.
Green electricity has been developed in the Netherlands, the
United States, Australia and Germany.
The Shanghai Economic Commission authorized the Shanghai Energy
Conservation Supervision Center to design the green electricity
scheme in cooperation with the Shanghai Municipal Electric Power
Company last September.
“Shanghai is expected to become a positive example for other
economically developed coastal cities in China,” Douglas Ogden,
executive vice president of the US-based Energy Foundation, told
local media at the forum.
According to the Shanghai government, a 3,400-kilowatt windmill
and a 10-kilowatt solar power generator have been erected in the
coastal area of Fengxian District, in the city’s southern
suburbs.
In addition, larger wind-power facilities under construction at
the city’s Chongming Island and Nanhui District have been designed
with capacity of more than 20,000 kilowatts. So far, they represent
the largest windmills on the mainland, and are expected to be
completed later this year, according to the company.
The windmills, with a total investment of 200 million yuan
(US$24 million), are a cooperative project between the State Power
Corporation and the World Bank to promote the country’s utilization
of abundant wind power along the coast, said Hu Chengyu, an
official with Shanghai Power, a subsidiary of the State Power
Corporation and the main developer.
Hu points out that the city’s green electricity “will be only a
very small part of the city’s total electricity supply” and will
not help ease the current power pinch in Shanghai.
But the green electricity program may help improve the public
awareness of sustainable development and environmental protection,
said Hu.
(China Daily March 23, 2004)