Background

China’s electricity grid is heavily carbon intensive with the majority of power generation coming from fossil fuels.  More than 80% of China’s electricity comes from coal power and the grid emission factor for China is approximately 0.9 kg CO2/kWh, almost twice as “dirty” as electricity in the UK. It is therefore of utmost importance to promote clean energy generation and energy efficiency in China using the incentive of carbon finance to enable projects which would otherwise not have happened.

The project

The Tuoji Island Wind Farm consists of 16 wind turbines, each of 750 kW in capacity, totalling 12 MW. Located in the north-east of Shandong Province, the average altitude of the project site is 100 m above sea level.  It is expected to generate approximately 23,500 MWh of clean renewable electricity each year, equivalent to the average annual demand of approximately 5,500 UK households. The wind farm began operation in early 2007 and the power generated is being fed into the China’s Northern Power Grid displacing conventional fossil fuel powered electricity. As the wind farm is less than 15 MW in size, Tuoji is considered a small scale project for the purposes of carbon accreditation.

Benefits beyond emissions

Social:
- New employment opportunities, both during its construction and now that it is operational.
- On the job training and development for staff, specifically designed by the turbine manufacturer and boosting skills in the local community

Economic:
- The wind farm acts as a flagship in a country heavily reliant on fossil fuels by raising the profile of renewable electricity in the investment market.

Environmental:
- The wind farm will displace fossil-fuel power in the Chinese Power Grid, as well as displacing other pollutants resulting from fossil fuel power generation.


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