Hebei Province Prepares for Wind Farm

[RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Cathay Merchant Group is preparing to develop its first wind energy project in China, and has built two wind measurement towers on a potential site. The Twin Dragon Wind Farm is a 160 MW project on 50 square kilometers of land in the Hebei Province of China. Cathay chose the site for its world-class wind resources in a large wind gap facing the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The first phase of the development will be 100 MW, between 50 to 70 wind turbines, and is expected to cost approximately US $125 million (CNY 1 billion). Projected yearly output from this phase is 400,000 MWh, and Cathay expects the project will also be eligible to sell emission credits for the annual reduction of 300,000 tons of CO2. Financing for the project is to be arranged by domestic lenders in China, and by way of a syndicate. China’s goal is to meet 10 percent of its energy needs from renewable energy sources. The government has set a goal of increasing wind power generating capacity to 10,000 MW by 2015 and 20,000 MW by 2020.