Wind plan may hit doldrums on land

Advisers question the use of precious space for turbines

With fossil fuel prices soaring, wind power may soon compete on cost with conventional power generation, but whether Hong Kong could justify using scarce land for wind turbines is open to question, say government advisers on renewable energy.

They were speaking after a tour last week of a wind farm in Shanwei, Guangdong. The second-largest in the province, the Honghaiwan Wind Farm generates about 33,000MWh of electricity a year.

Yang Yu, the general manager of the Guangdong Jihua Wind Energy Company which operates the Shanwei wind farm, said it cost 8,000 yuan to generate 1MWh of electricity from wind power in Guangdong compared with 5,000 yuan for coal power.

'However, wind power is environment-friendly and it mainly requires one-off investment,' he said.

'Besides, the cost of wind power generation is gradually declining.' Mr Yang said only six or seven technicians were needed to manage the wind farm.

In Guangdong, wind-generated electricity is priced at 0.52 yuan per unit compared with 0.35 yuan for coal-generated electricity.