China Huadian to buy up to 142 wind turbines

By Rujun Shen

SHANGHAI, March 24 (Reuters) - China Huadian Corp, one of the country's five big power generators, has agreed to purchase up to 142 wind turbines worth 1.4 billion yuan ($200 million) from China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corp under a wind power cooperation pact.

In the initial phase of the deal, Huadian will install 20 turbines this year with a combined generating capacity of 36.3 megawatts at a wind farm in the central Chinese province of Hunan, Fang Yi, an official at Huadian's alternative energy development subsidiary, said on Monday.

China South Locomotive, a state-owned railway equipment manufacturer that is planning an initial public offering in both Hong Kong and the mainland in May, will continue supplying additional turbines if Huadian is satisfied with the performance of the initial group, Fang said.

China, keen to boost the use of clean energy and reduce its reliance on highly polluting coal, last week raised its target for installed wind power capacity to 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2010 from its previous plan of 5 GW.

China had 4.03 GW of wind power capacity as of late 2007, accounting for less than 0.6 percent of its total power generating capacity. Coal accounts for 80 percent of China's electric power generation.

Denmark's Vestas (VWS.CO: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's biggest maker of wind turbines, announced a 197.2 megawatt turbine order with Guangdong Nuclear Wind Power Co in January, with delivery due to begin in the middle of this year.

China Huadian, parent of Huadian Power International (1071.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) (600027.SS: Quote, Profile, Research), is developing several wind power projects in the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang regions in northern and western China, as well as in coastal regions, Fang said.

"This year we plan to start building up wind power capacity of 300 megawatts," she said.