Domestic and overseas investors yesterday decided to invest 60 billion yuan for over 40 projects in Rudong county, Jiangsu province.

Most of the new projects are in power, energy and for manufacture of generating units, and are part of the nation's efforts to build clean energy bases.

"It is a key part of the province's blueprint to generate electricity using wind power," said Gu Shuying, deputy chief of Rudong county.

Jiangsu has got approval from the central government to build seven wind power farms with a combined capacity of 1,250-mW generating units by 2010, which may cost 10 billion yuan.

Rudong has established the largest wind power farm in Asia on an area of 200 hectares with a capacity to generate 1,000 mW of electricity, Gu said.

The county is also setting up a new 420-million-yuan wind power project as part of the new deals signed, she said.

With abundant wind resources along its 106-km coastline, Rudong plans to install 4,120-mW wind power generating units including 620 mW for land farms, 2,500 mW for sea farms and 1,000 mW for tide generation.

The county has injected 14 billion yuan into the projects to build wind power farms with a capacity of 970-mW generating units, said county chief Zhan Lifeng.

He said a 250-mW wind power farm that commenced operations recently has been able to save nearly 330,000 tons of standard coal annually used for thermal power plants.

A total of 264 generating units with a combined 420-mW generating capacity will be installed by the end of this year, said Zhou Hua, deputy director of the Rudong new energy bureau.

(China Daily September 22, 2009)