Guangdong aims to boost its new energy industry

Aug. 11, 2009 (China Knowledge) - South China's Guangdong Province, which is an export-oriented city, hopes to boost the value of its new energy industry's output to RMB 400 billion by 2020, said Li Miaojuan, director of the provincial development and reform commission.

The province will promote the development of nuclear, wind and solar energy, said Li, adding that the installed capacity of nuclear power will be increased to 24 million kilowatts by 2020 from the current 4 million kW.

Guangdong's new energy industry has started to take shape. It has a 1 MW solar power plant in Shenzhen and a 100 kW solar power plant in Shantou, and there are wind power projects totaling 1 GW currently under construction.

Guangdong's new energy and renewable energy development plan has attracted a total investment of RMB 1.2 billion from the World Environment Protection Association.

Clean energy plays a key role in industrial modernization and will be an area for growth in the province's economy. A wider use of clean energy will not only optimize the structure of local energy consumption but will also help upgrade traditional manufacturing, Li said.

Clean energy, which includes hydropower as well as nuclear, solar, gas and wind power, accounted for a combined 32.5% of Guangdong's overall installed electrical power capacity at the end of 2008.