Wind power is developing rapidly in China and is set to become a major factor in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This was the message from the China Wind Power 2010 exhibition in Beijing Wednesday.

At the end of 2009, China ranked second in the world in terms of installed wind generating capacity and was the country where capacity was growing fastest, according to a report released Tuesday by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Greenpeace.

Opening the exhibition, Klaus Rave, chairman of GWEC, said that by the end of 2011, China will have surpassed the United States to become the largest wind power generator in the world.

"Developing wind power is in accordance with China's emission reduction targets," said Li Junfeng, secretary-general of Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA).

The Chinese government pledged last year to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, and said non-fossil fuels would generate 15 percent of primary energy by 2020.

"The rapid development of wind power shows the world that China is determined to tackle greenhouse gas emissions," Li said. "It's also a great opportunity to build the wind power industry."

The boom in wind power benefits economic growth as well as the world investment environment, Rave said.

Zhu Junsheng, of CREIA, said that since recent coal price increases, many traditional generating plants have been running at a loss. By contrast, wind power is clean and beneficial, and that is why its market has grown so fast over the past five years.

China's total installed wind power capacity is planned to reach at least 150 gigawatts by 2020 compared with 25.8 gigawatts at the end of 2009.

But there are outstanding issues such as connections to the electric grid and the transfer of wind power to households, as well as quality issues affecting wind turbines, Zhu said.

"Many places with good wind energy resources are located in China's northwest, which is less developed economically and consumes little electricity. What we need to do is to put the wind power onto the grid and transfer it to areas that need it, such as southeast China," said Dong Luying, from the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission.

"At present, however, when wind power is connected to the grid, it is not stable enough to supply electricity to households," She said.

To help solve the issue as well as improve industry standards, a joint project was launched in 2008 between China and Denmark, one of the most developed countries in terms of wind power use.

The Danish-Chinese Wind Energy Development program chose northeast China as a pilot area to explore how to feed wind electricity to the grid and develop better industry standards.

When the three-year project completes, plans will be submitted to local governments, and China will also issue new standards for the wind power industry early next year, she said.

China Wind Power 2010, co-hosted by the Global Wind Energy Council, the Chinese Wind Energy Association, and the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association, is being held at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, from Oct.13-15.