A Danish grant of 45 million kroner (about 60 million yuan) over the next three years will be used to finance a joint wind energy program between the Scandinavian country and China, it was announced on Wednesday.

 

An agreement was signed yesterday between the two countries with the funding being used to assist China improve its technological and management skills in wind power development and to help local authorities devise their own wind energy plans.

 

Denmark leads the world in wind energy and has sophisticated systems which allow windmills to supply 23 percent of the country's electricity. ?

 

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Zhang Guobao, deputy head of the China National Development and Reform Commission said the country's wind energy capacity had been increasing rapidly in recent years as renewable energy played a more prominent role in energy provision. ?

 

In 2005 alone China's capacity for wind generated electricity had increased by 500,000 kilowatts in comparison to a total of 780,000 kilowatts added over the past two or three decades, he said.

 

The year also saw the beginning of construction work on new windmills with a combined capacity of 1.5 million kilowatts, he said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2006)