Shanghai will turn its attention to wind power during a major conference on developing the renewable energy source, which will be held in China's commercial hub next year.

The Wind Power Shanghai 2007 is scheduled on Oct. 31 and marks the city's efforts to catch up with other regions of China in the exploitation of wind power.

Currently, three small wind farms generate 25 MW of power for Shanghai's vast energy needs but work has just begun on building a 100 MW offshore wind farm, the first of its kind in China.

"By 2010 the total wind power will be around 300 MW, two percent of the city's total installed power capacity," said Li Xin, an official with the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission.

China's wind sector is growing rapidly. "By 2010 China will probably be the world's largest wind energy market. We want to make this event an important gathering of the leading wind energy players from around the world," Li Junfeng, secretary general of the China Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA), said.

The four-day event is sponsored by the China Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA), the World Wind Energy Council (WWEC), China Wind Energy Association, and Shanghai International Exhibition Company Limited (SIEC). The first three parties successfully staged the 2006 Great Wall Wind Energy Conference in October in Beijing. They agreed to sponsor one such event in China every year.

China had 62 wind farms in operation totaling 1,266 MW in energy capacity by the end of 2005. The total capacity is likely to exceed 2,000 MW this year. The government has set targets of 5,000 MW for 2010 and 30,000 MW for 2020, to account for three percent of the country's total power capacity.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006)