How China is Using Wind Energy Programs to Generate Jobs

Wind Turbine
Source: Petr Kratochvil / www.publicdomainpictures.net

Chinese wind farms are in the news once again as Gamesa, a world renowned manufacturer and constructor of wind farms, has secured another contract with China to install 50 2.0 MW wind turbines in Ningxia, China. This is in addition to the 25 2.0 MW wind turbines that was agreed upon for installation last year.

China presently has a total of 80 wind farms in operation. As of 2010, energy production from wind farms was 41,800 MW and it has been growing at an accelerated rate. In China’s 12th Five Year Plan from 2011 to 2015, wind farms are included in their environmental goals and they are aiming to produce more than 150 billion kWh by the end of 2015.

Obviously, wind power has caught the eye of the Chinese Government as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels but there is a deeper significance for supporting it: jobs.

Wind farms did not flourish in China without the aid of the Chinese Government. They regulate the construction of wind farms; subsidies on wind generated electricity; and, they even required power companies to purchase ALL the electricity produced from these renewable sources of energy.

Over the past decade, the Chinese Government was also able to attract big companies from almost all major parts of the globe to invest in wind power generation in their country. GE from the United States, Siemens from Germany, Gamesa from Spain and Hyundai from South Korea all have partnered with Chinese companies to install wind farms in various areas of China. Not only did these big companies install wind turbines but they also constructed manufacturing plants for wind turbines in China.

The result of a government backed wind energy program in China is a bit overwhelming. There is a forecast that China might be able to meet its energy demands through wind power by 2030; jobs were created by international companies who invested in the country; and, currently, China is also aiming to broaden its market in the exportation wind turbines.