Energy experts are lobbying for a lake to be used as a wind farm to supply much needed and cleaner electricity.
Blackouts are common throughout the economically developed eastern parts of China. Xiong Jiasen, an electricity generating specialist and vice-general manager with the Jiangxi Power Company, believes China's largest freshwater lake is key to year-round supplies.
"Poyang Lake is a right place to explore new and clean power energy," he said. To meet the mounting energy demand for civilian and industrial users, thermal power projects are being built by provincial governments.
However, experts like Xiong claim efforts should be focused on new and clean energy.
Located in east China's Jiangxi Province, Poyang Lake, covering a total area of 5,100 square kilometres, boasts rich wind power resources, which can be exploited to ease the power shortage, Xiong said.
He added: "Data acquired after years of observation and research prove the wind power on the lake is as rich as that in coastal areas, and is of a high exploitation value."
The Jiangxi Provincial Weather Research Institute has released statistics which agree with Xiong, indicating a 19,245-square-kilometre area is suitable for wind power generation. The institute estimates 11.3 billion kilowatts an hour could be generated.
"It is imperative to speed up the development of wind power on the lake and stress the use of clean energy to ease the strain on power plants," said Huang Yicheng, a power expert.
"It is also feasible to explore wind power resources in the Poyang Lake," Xiong said. However, development costs are quite high, he added. "But the government should work out more favorable polices to encourage exploitation of new energy, including wind power," Xiong said.
(China Daily December 29, 2004)
