Investment in alternative energy may exceed CNY2 trillion by 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, said in 2007. Wind power is “vital” as it is the cheapest form of alternative energy relative to conventional sources, Shi told reporters.
“The on-grid price for wind power is about 0.5 to 0.6 yuan per kilowatt-hour compared with about 0.2 to 0.4 yuan per kilowatt-hour for coal,” Shi said.
The country will increase its wind power capacity by fivefold to 100,000 megawatts by 2020 from at least 20,000 megawatts next year to help fight climate change, Zhang Guobao, director of the energy administration, said on May 26, 2009.
About five megawatts is sufficient to power about 1,000 households in China on average, Hu Zhaoguang, vice president of the State Power Economic Research Institute, said.