China will become the world's third largest wind power producer this year, an official with the National Energy Administration (NEA) said Wednesday.

The country's installed wind power capacity would total 20 million kilowatts (kw) this year, said Shi Lishan, deputy with New Energy and Renewable Energy Bureau of the NEA. The capacity was 764,000 kw by the end of 2004 and increased to 12 million kw in 2008.

The estimated figure will lift China to the third place following the United States and Germany.

China has now a complete industrial chain in wind power industry, Shi said. The country was not capable of producing complete wind energy generator equipment in 2003.

However, technology remained the bottleneck of Chinese wind power development, Shi said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2009)