China is ushering in its first peak of nuclear power development with 18-million-kw installed capacity facilities starting construction in 2008, and other 10 million kw capacity scheduled to be built during 2009. 

       The installed capacity of nuclear power projects under construction in China has exceeded 25 million kw. Included are two 650,000-kw nuclear power generating units of the Qinshan Nuclear Station, two 1-million-kw units of the Ling’ao Nuclear Power Stations and four 1-million-kw units of the Hongyanhe project in Liaoning province. Other projects being built are four 1-million-kw units in Ningde and six one-million-kw units in Fuqing, both in Fujian province. There are also six one-million-kw units in Yangjiang, Guangdong province, and two 1-million-kw units in Fangjiashan of Zhejiang province.
       “Only nuclear power can substitute fossil energy in a large scale at the present time,” noted Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Bureau and one of China’s major energy policy makers, in a recent conference on localizing nuclear power technology and equipment.
       Actually, the once rocketing prices of energy such as oil, natural and gas and coal have already made various countries incline to development of nuclear power.
       Zhang, also vice minister of China’s top economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out that the ongoing worldwide economic turndown and sharp decline in power generation and consumption provide China a sound opportunity to adjust its energy structure with the focus on nuclear power generation.
       To accelerate the development of nuclear power is an important guideline for China to adjust the energy structure, and China will energetically develop nuclear power in the years to come, according to the senior energy official.
       As a kind of clean energy, nuclear power has caught the limelight as China spares no efforts to boost domestic demand as a way to blunt impact from the spreading global financial crisis. Soon after the Chinese government announced a massive four trillion yuan stimulus package last year, three large nuclear power projects, which require a huge investment amounting to 120 billion yuan for 10 generating units alone, were nodded to start construction in short time. The projects will surely pull investments up in the field.
       China will soon readjust its Long and Middle-term Nuclear Power Development Program for the period of 2005-2020, upgrading the target of installed nuclear power generation capacity for the year of 2020 substantially from 40 million kw to 70 million kw, disclosed a source close to the National Energy Bureau.
       According to the present Long and Middle-Term Nuclear Power Development Program promulgated in 2007, China will complete construction of 40 million kw power generating units and put 18 million kw under construction by 2020. By then, the installed capacity of nuclear power will count as four percent of the country’s total installed capacity.
       However, if the new development program takes effect, nuclear power supply will meet six percent of the total demand for power of China by 2020.
Currently, nuclear power facilities can only satisfy one percent of the national total power demand. By the end of 2008, nuclear power had a combined installed capacity of 9.1 million kw, merely making up 1.1 percent of the country’s total, far lower than the world’s average 16 percent.
      “Accelerating the construction of the nuclear power facilities is of great significance for China to achieve sustainable development of energy and optimize the energy structure,” said Zhang Guobao.
      China’s energy supply has grown at an annual pace of 5.4 percent on average in the past 30 years, while its GDP scored a astonishing annual growth of 9.7 percent. However, coal still makes up more than 70 percent of China’s primary energy, and accounts for as high as 83 percent of the electricity production, making China the world’s second largest contributor in volume of greenhouse gas discharge.
       According to Zhang, nuclear power projects that will have a total installed capacity of more than 10 million kw, will start construction in 2009, and three more in Central China’s Hunan and Hubei provinces and East China’s Jiangxi province are expected to start construction next year and the second phase of the foresaid projects will be launched in the year after next.
       The nuclear power equipment market is predicted to have a size of 400 billion yuan by 2020, with annual demand for equipment valued at 30 billion yuan, according to a report of Dongguan Securities.  
       Promoting localization of nuclear power technology and equipment manufacturing has become urgent for Chinese enterprises, as China is still incapable of manufacturing some key components and must pay high import prices.
Although China’s independently developed technology has taken 75 to 80 percent of the operational nuclear stations, core technologies still rely heavily on imports from developed countries.
       The supply of uranium, raw material for generating nuclear power, will become a concern when such large scale nuclear power projects are and to be launched, said Professor Lin Boxiang, director of the China Energy Economic Research Center of the Xiamen University.

 
Table 1. Nuclear Power Plants Completed in China.

Table 2. Nuclear Power Plants under Construction in China

Table 3. Nuclear power project to be constructed in 2009.

BEIJING: Liu Qi, deputy head of China’s National Energy Administration, said Thursday that both China and the United States shoulder the important mission of promoting energy security and global sustainable development.

"The two countries could further cooperation on a wide range of areas in the development of economic and energy sectors against the background of economic globalization," Liu told a forum on "Developing Effective Mechanisms for Energy Efficiency Implementation in China".

Jon Wellinghoff, acting chairman of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said enhancing energy efficiency in China and the United States presented the best opportunity to curb global warming, as the two countries together consumed approximately one third of world’s energy.

"Tackling the energy and environmental challenges is in the mutual interests of our two nations. The two countries should work together in achieving our energy and environmental goals," Wellinghoff said.

Promoting energy efficiency was set as the sixth goal during the fifth round of China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue held in December in Beijing.

Energy efficiency was the best way to meet energy and environmental goals, while the two countries could work together in policy support, information exchange, and sharing best practices, Wellinghoff said.

Steven Chu, US Secretary of Energy, said in a videotaped address that the greatest challenges today were global and demanded global cooperation. The United States must work closely with China, India and other nations to fundamentally transform the way energy was used and produced.

"We need to make our homes, offices, and factories more energy efficient. And we must develop new sources of clean, renewable energy that will power the world economy for decades to come," Chu said.

The Chinese government has set a goal of reducing energy consumption per unit GDP by 20 per cent in the five-year period from 2006 to 2010.

Energy intensity, the amount of energy it takes to produce a unit of GDP, fell 4.21 per cent year-on-year in 2008 in China, a larger decline than the 3.66 per cent recorded in 2007.

DUBLIN, Ireland-Currently, wind power is an important resource in the world’s energy family. In 2008, among the installed world’s new electricity generating equipment, the total value of wind turbines is more than 400 billion dollars.

In 2008, the growth rate of global wind power capacity was 28.8 percent, higher than the average growth rate in the past ten years. By the end of 2008, the total installed capacity of wind energy equipment reached 120.8GW. The additional installed capacity in 2008 was more than 27GW, 36 percent year-on-year growth.

In 2008, an additional installed capacity of wind power in China was 6.3GW, the total installed capacity reached 12.2GW.

To cope with the impact of financial crisis, the Chinese government has regarded the development of wind energy as one of the key economic growth points. According to the current pace of development, China’s total installed capacity in 2010 will be the second largest in the world, realizing the original plan of achieving the goal of 30GW in 2020 a decade ahead of schedule.

China’s growing wind power market has also stimulated the domestic wind turbine and components production. Manufacturing become more mature, and gradually cover the entire supply chain.

At present, Chinese enterprises will not only meet the domestic demand, but also begin to supply the international market, especially in terms of parts.

The present report on China wind power equipment manufacturers’ survey will reflect the substantial industry market information displayed to the readers

Through this report, more information can be obtained as follows:

Brief Introduction of Main Wind Power Equipment Manufacturing Enterprises and Their Production Capacity

Blade Manufacturers’ Situation
Gearbox Manufactures’ Situation
Gearbox Manufactures’ Situation
Main Casting Manufacturers’ Situation
Inverter Manufacturers’ Situation
Casting Manufacturers’ Situation
Tower Tube Manufacturers’ Situation
Manufacturer’s Market Penetration
Key Topics Covered:

1 General Situation of China Wind Turbine Component Manufacturers
2 Main Blade Manufacturers
3 Main Gearbox Manufacturers
4 Main Bearing Manufacturers
5 Main Inverter Manufacturers
6 Main Casting Manufacturers
7 Main Tower Tube Manufacturers
8 Generators Manufacturers of China’s Wind Power Market
List of Selected Charts
Companies Mentioned:

ZhongHang (Baoding) Huiteng Windpower Equipment Co., Ltd
Lianyunguang Zhongfu Lianzong Composites Group Co. Ltd
Nanjing High Speed Gear Manufacturing Co., LTD.
Chongqing Gearbox Co., Ltd.
SKF (Dalian) Bearings and Precision Technologies Co. Ltd.
Beijing ABB Electric Drive System Co., Ltd.
Emerson Network Power CO., LTD.
Jiangsu Jixin Wind Energe Technology CO., LTD.
Hangzhou Sound Foundry CO., LTD.
Taisheng Power Engineering Machinery Co., Ltd:
Qingdao Wu Pipe Co., Ltd.
Yongji Electric Machine Factories, CNR
Zhuzhou CRS Electric Motor Co., Ltd.
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/823d41/investigation_repo

Contact:
Laura Wood
Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax from USA: 646-607-1907
Fax from rest of the world: +353-1-481-1716

China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its annual report Thursday that the energy consumption per unit gross domestic product (GDP) fell 4.59 percent in 2008 as the government vowed to improve energy efficiency.

The figure was slightly higher than the NBS’s previous estimation of 4.21 percent.

The Chinese government vowed to reduce energy consumption per 10,000 yuan GDP by 20 percent in the five-year period from 2006 to2010. The figure in 2007 stood at 3.66 percent.

The report also reduced the direct economic losses caused by natural disasters in 2008 to 1.1752 trillion yuan (171.2 billion U.S. dollars), from the previous estimation of 1.35 trillion yuan by the Ministry of Civil Affairs earlier this month.

The direct economic losses, which include the 8-magnitude Sichuan earthquake last May that caused 845.1 billion yuan worth losses, was 4 times higher than that of 2007.

Other major figures, including GDP growth, Consumer Price Index, and foreign exchange reserves, remained unchanged.

The NBS said the data released in the report was still a preliminary version.

BEIJING-China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its annual report Thursday that the energy consumption per unit gross domestic product (GDP) fell 4.59 percent in 2008 as the government vowed to improve energy efficiency.

The figure was slightly higher than the NBS’s previous estimation of 4.21 percent.

The Chinese government vowed to reduce energy consumption per 10,000 yuan GDP by 20 percent in the five-year period from 2006 to 2010. The figure in 2007 stood at 3.66 percent.

The report also reduced the direct economic losses caused by natural disasters in 2008 to 1.1752 trillion yuan (US$171.2 billion), from the previous estimation of 1.35 trillion yuan by the Ministry of Civil Affairs earlier this month.

The direct economic losses, which include the 8-magnitude Sichuan earthquake last May that caused 845.1 billion yuan worth losses, was 4 times higher than that of 2007.

Other major figures, including GDP growth, Consumer Price Index, and foreign exchange reserves, remained unchanged.

The NBS said the data released in the report was still a preliminary version.

Solar-cell maker China Sunergy Co Ltd (CSUN.O) said it expects gross profit margin to be in negative high single-digits for 2008, hurt by further declines in average selling prices.

"Due to the rapid decline of average selling prices and raw material prices, the company estimates an increase in inventory provision of about $10 million," it added.

The company also said its fourth-quarter solar cell production was at the top of the outlook range of 15 to 20 mega watt.

China Sunergy also expects currency exchange and derivative losses in the fourth quarter due to Euro depreciation and fair market value change of embedded derivatives. It said, however, that its cash flow is expected to remain positive on an operational level.

A stronger U.S. dollar and decline in government incentives for solar power in top markets like Germany and Spain have driven prices on solar panels down, hampering solar manufacturers’ profitability.

Shares of China Sunergy closed at $1.78 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

For the alerts, please double click [ID:nWNAB7362] (Reporting by Arup Roychoudhury in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan) (arup.roychoudhury@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: arup.roychoudhury.reuters.com@reuters.net))

China has the potential to build a "green economy" over the next decades, said a report on energy and the environment by McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy firm.

By 2030, China is expected to reduce its oil imports by up to 30 to 40 percent, its coal demand by 40 percent and greenhouse gas emission by 50 percent, through investing in technologies that are commercially available and those not widely understood or deployed today, said the report.

Transforming China into a "green economy", McKinsey estimated that from now until 2030, up to 1.5-2 trillion yuan on average would be needed in additional investment each year to effectively deploy the green technologies needed to achieve the substantial improvements.

On an annual basis, the investment required is equivalent to 1.5-2.5 percent of China’s GDP, with this spending bringing China enhanced energy security.

For example, by comprehensively rolling out electric vehicles over the next two decades, China could cut its projected demand for imported oil by up to 30-40 percent in 2030.

By significantly ramping up investment in clean energy technologies such as nuclear, wind, solar and hydropower, China could cut its reliance on coal as the source of energy for its power plants from 81 percent of total electricity generation today to 34 percent by 2030.

By comprehensively implementing energy efficiency improvement technologies in the building and industrial sectors, and by actively recovering and utilizing waste and by-products in the industrial sector, China could cut its projected demand for electricity and coal in 2030 by over 10 percent.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that China has consistently improved the "carbon efficiency" of its economy over the past 15 years.

Through a combination of government policies and industry-wide initiatives, China has reduced the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that it produces for every unit of GDP by 4.9 percent each year on average over the past 15 years, compared with just 1.7 percent in the US and 2.7 percent in Germany.

The report was based on McKinsey’s study of 200 technologies that China could deploy to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions and pollution in six key sectors, including power, automobiles, heavy industry and waste management, buildings, agriculture and forestry, urban design and consumer behavior. More than 100 experts from government, business, and academia were interviewed for the report.

Anhui Wenergy Co., a Chinese electricity producer, surged the most in three months in Shenzhen trading after saying it will form a joint venture to build a nuclear plant in eastern China.

Anhui Wenergy gained 10 percent to 6.45 yuan as of 10:21 a.m. local time, headed for the biggest advance since Nov. 19. The company will take a 49 percent stake in a joint venture with China National Nuclear Corp. to build a nuclear power plant in Anhui province, according to its statement to the stock exchange today.

The statement did not say how much the company will invest in the project. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2 percent today.

China National Nuclear, the nation’s biggest reactor builder, started a feasibility study into constructing a nuclear power plant in Anhui in December.

China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, has approved and started energy projects that cost at least $35 billion since November as the government implements a stimulus plan to spur economic growth.

The country relies on coal and oil for 90 percent of its energy needs and wants to increase the use of alternative fuels including nuclear power.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chua Kong Ho in Shanghai at kchua6@bloomberg.net

BEIJING- The United States and China should hold a summit featuring an agreement on climate change, helping to create international support for a new global pact by the end of 2009, a former White House adviser said on Thursday.

China and the United States have often been icy rivals over trade and security, and they are also the world’s top two emitters of the greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels that are stoking global warming.

Kenneth Lieberthal, a former National Security Council officer on Asia in the Clinton administration and now at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., said the two powers should make fighting global warming a centerpiece under President Barack Obama.

A summit between Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao featuring clean energy and curtailing greenhouse gases as one of the major issues would help surmount domestic misgivings in each country and lift hopes for agreeing a successor to the current Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2009, Lieberthal said in Beijing.

Kyoto is the United Nations’ main weapon to fight climate change.

"We should use Sino-U.S. cooperation in order to create momentum for other countries’ efforts, which will in turn increase the chances for success at the global climate negotiations," he said.

He was speaking at the release of a study by him and another former Clinton official, David Sandalow, advocating China-U.S. cooperation on climate change. The study is available on the Brookings website (www.brookings.edu).

Lieberthal’s call came a week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Beijing, when she pushed the issue.

GULF

He said he did not know whether his call for a summit would be adopted. But he was encouraged by the actions of the Obama administration and saw some chance of the two leaders meeting in a summit later in the year before global climate change negotiations culminate in Copenhagen.

"I do believe that both leaderships see a very significant value in meeting together personally," said Lieberthal.

But despite the upbeat talk, a gulf still divides Washington and Beijing on many practical issues.

Chinese officials have said their country is now probably the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from vehicles, factories, farms and land clearance. Most experts say it has clearly passed the United States, long the top emitter.

But Beijing has refused to consider caps on its greenhouse gas output, noting that the nation’s average per-capita emissions are much lower than the West’s.

China also points out that, historically, much of the carbon pollution in the atmosphere is from rich industrialized nations.

The Bush administration cited China’s refusal to accept emissions caps as one reason for its refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, whose current phase expires at the end of 2012.

Lieberthal said a bilateral agreement and then clearer emissions undertakings from China would help overcome any opposition in Congress to the United States joining a successor to Kyoto.

"Chinese leaders have to understand that they effect President Obama’s ability to get climate change legislation completed," he said.

China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), the nation’s largest nuclear power plant builder, yesterday launched a new company in Anhui Province to help develop its Jiyang nuclear power plant.

CNNC signed an investment agreement with Shenzhen-listed Anhui Wenergy Co Ltd<000543> to jointly develop the nuclear power plant, which is located in Chizhou, a city on the Yangtze River.

The Jiyang nuclear power plant, to be equipped with four 1000-MW nuclear reactors, is expected to involve investment of more than RMB 50 billion in total.

CNNC initiated the project in July 2006 after it finished the feasibility study in April 2005. So far, CNNC built one nuclear plant in Qinshan of Zhenjiang Province and another in Tianwan of Jiangsu Province.