The first sea wind power station in China will be built in the coastal area near the Donghai (East Sea) Bridge in Shanghai. The wind power station will have an installed capacity of 100,000 kilowatts. When put into operation, it will be able to supply power to 200,000 households in Shanghai every year.

Shanghai is now considering building a series of wind power stations at sea. The first two will be built near the Donghai Bridge and the Hangzhou Bay respectively, both with an installed capacity of 100,000 kilowatts. The New Energy Department of Shanghai Institute of Investigation, Design and Research has finished related research work and the project will soon enter into the stage of implementation.

The first wind power station is located closely to the Donghai Bridge. When construction starts, twenty big windmills with a diameter between 80-126 meters and a height of 90 meters will be placed in a coastal area one kilometer away from the Donghai Bridge. As long as the wind speed can reach 3 - 25 meters per second at sea, the windmills can work properly. When there is a strong gale at sea, the windmills will stop working automatically. When there is typhoon weather, workers in the power station will take measures to protect the facilities. Through these protective means, the windmills will be able to work for 25 years.

In the coastal area near the Donghai Bridge, the windy time capable of making windmills work effectively totals 8,000 hours a year. When the wind power station is completed three years later, China will become another country in the world that can generate power from sea wind, after Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

(Chinanews.cn October 27, 2006)