INTERVIEW-China waters rich in wind power potential - Vestas

* China could generate 750 gigawatts-Vestas Pres

* Smaller EU market still more attractive

STOCKHOLM, Sept 14 - China's coastal waters could potentially produce 750 gigawatts of wind energy, dwarfing the total capacity planned for the European Union, Vestas Offshore President Anders Soe-Jensen said on Monday.

Soe-Jensen told Reuters in an interview the area could generate nearly ten times more energy than the total capacity planned for wind energy across the EU, but said there were obstacles to investing.

"It's an obscene number," Soe-Jensen said, referring to the potential in gigawatts, a measure of electricity. "But in China they still do not have an arrangement for how much the owner is going to be paid for the electricity they produce offshore."

The European Union, with more than 100 gigawatts of offshore wind projects at some stage of planning, still remained the world's most viable market for wind energy development, he said.

Germany and the United Kingdom were particularly attractive to wind energy firms, he said, because their leaders supported development and had clarified compensation for investors.

"That (exploitation) regime is in place in those places and is fairly attractive, and that is why you see construction going on there," he said at a conference in Stockholm.

EU member states are preparing to submit detailed plans of their renewable targets for 2020, with wind energy expected to see a surge in investments ahead of the deadline.

Interest for the sector has picked from a low point hit during the financial crisis, as smaller players recover from a dearth in funding and larger companies use healthier balance sheets to support offshore projects.

"If you look into the market going forward, we're looking at a two-digit growth rate," Soe-Jensen said. "I want part of that, but I don't want more business than we can handle."

Denmark's Vestas, which on Monday announced a new wind turbine model, controls 20 percent of the wind turbine market, according to the company's web site.