Shanghai may require a total investment of 18 billion yuan (US$2.85 billion) by 2015 to increase its capacity of clean energy, mainly wind power, according to the city government.
The spending will play a key role in Shanghai’s target of having 1 percent of its primary energy use from non-fossil fuels that are locally developed and creating a local new energy industry worth tens of billions of dollars. The target excludes solar heating.
Of the investment, 7 billion yuan will be for offshore wind power, 3 billion yuan for onshore wind power and 2 billion yuan for solar projects, according to a government plan released yesterday. The rest will go to alternatives such as biomass-fired generation and geothermal energy.
Shanghai took a lead in clean energy development by bringing on stream the 102 megawatt Donghai Bridge Wind Farm, Asia’s first major offshore wind project, and installing a 6.7 megawatt solar roof on the Hongqiao Railway Station, the largest of its kind in China.
The city used the 2010 World Expo to promote the use of clean energy, installing solar panels on pavilions and setting up China’s first demonstration smart grid project, which used data from generation, transmission and consumers to efficiently deliver power at the lowest cost.
But limited land supply, a short coastline and the high cost of clean energy mean the city still needs to rely on outside resources in its clean energy push.
Under the city’s plan, non-fossil fuels will make up 12 percent of Shanghai’s primary energy consumption in 2015 - 11 percent of which is hydro and nuclear power from other provinces - up from 6 percent last year.
“The slowing development in nuclear development will make it increasingly difficult for Shanghai to secure nuclear power out of town,” the government plan states, referring to the impact on China’s nuclear industry of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan.
In a separate plan, the city aims to boost natural gas supply to 10 billion cubic meters by 2015, from 4.5 billion last year. Shanghai also aims to boost emergency gas inventories to 15 days by 2015, as the city relies on outside sources for almost all of its natural gas.
