WORLD WIND ENERGY NET

Shanghai, November 3 – The WindPower Shanghai 2007 conference and exhibition from 1-3 November brought together industry leaders, national and provincial policy makers and renewable energy experts from across the globe. The event proved to be a truly international event surpassing all expectations, with close to 500 conference delegates from 14 countries and 8,000 exhibition visitors. The show, covering 9,000 square meters, had over 130 exhibitors from 18 countries representing most of the wind industry’s leading companies, including Vestas, Suzlon, GE, Nordex, LM Glasfiber, Siemens, Airtricity and Acciona. Up and coming Chinese companies were also represented, including Sinovel, Xinjian Goldwind, Shanghai Electric and Shejiang Windey.
The event was organized jointly by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Chinese Wind Energy Industry Association (CREIA), Chinese Wind Energy Association (CWEA) and Shanghai International Exhibition Co. Ltd.
“This event has reflected the enormous potential of wind power as well as its challenges in China. We are very pleased to be organizing this event with CREIA and CWEA” said Professor Arthouros Zervos, Chairman of GWEC, at the opening session.

“We were very happy with the way the show was organized. It has proved to be ‘the’ wind energy event in China to attend for all the key players in the industry” said Thorbjørn Rasmussen, President of Vestas Asia Pacific.

China is expected to become one of the most important wind energy markets, and the country will play an increasingly important international role in combating climate change, according to climate experts and other officials.

China ranked fifth in terms of annual installed wind energy capacity last year, after the US, Germany, India and Spain. China installed over 1300 MW of new capacity in 2006, and the latest figures show that its installed capacity is expected to reach 5 GW by the end of 2007 - three years ahead of the government-set 2010 target – which means that China will be the second largest market in the world in 2007.

Mr. Shi Li Shan, Director of the Energy Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), gave a very positive outlook for wind energy in China. “We believe that China will have no problems in reaching its 30GW by 2010 target, in fact we are hoping that it will have 120 GW installed by 2020. Good policy measures and rapid implementation are necessary for the fast deployment of wind power” he added.

"China's wind energy market is becoming increasingly mature, but needs more government assistance," said Li Junfeng, Secretary General of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA).

During the event, GWEC, CREIA and Greenpeace also launched their latest publication, the China Wind Power Report 2007 at a press conference on 1 November attended by over 60 Chinese and international journalists. The report predicts that China’s installed wind power capacity could reach 122 GW by 2020, accounting for up to 10 percent of total installed power generation capacity in China.

"China and the United States will become the two major wind energy markets in the world within the next few years" said Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of GWEC. “Mid-size companies and companies new to the wind market have more opportunities in the industry, which used to be dominated by European companies.” he added.

The report also outlines how wind energy can help reduce China’s dependence on coal, prevent air pollution and mitigate climate change.

Following the success of WindPower Shanghai 2007, GWEC announced that the next Global WindPower conference will take place in Beijing on 29-31 October 2008. “Given the rate at which the Chinese wind energy market is growing, GWEC’s decision to hold the Global WindPower 2008 conference and exhibition in Beijing seems to be the obvious choice. This conference will provide a high-­level platform for the most senior representatives of industry, government and the investment community to discuss the latest developments for wind energy, showcase their  technologies and formulate a common vision for the future,” said Prof. Zervos.