ADB backs China wind farm project

The Asian Development Bank is helping to finance a pioneering private-sector wind farm in China's Inner Mongolia that will help the fast-growing nation fight climate change, officials said.

The Manila-based ADB is lending about 24 million dollars towards the overall cost of 73 million dollars for the facility, China's first wind farm to be built as a joint venture between Chinese and Japanese companies.

"The lack of finance on reasonable terms has held back the development of clean energy projects in (China)," ADB investment specialist Hisaka Kimura said in a statement.

"This project could become a model for future collaborations between state-owned enterprises and foreign investors in renewable energy projects, and may encourage (China's) private sector to invest in wind power projects."

The 12-square-kilometre (4.5-square-mile) wind farm in Inner Mongolia will produce about 133 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year, and will cut China's carbon dioxide emissions by 140,000 tonnes annually, the statement said.

The development at Chifeng City is a joint venture between the state-owned China Datang Corp. and three Japanese firms -- Kyushu Electric Power Co., Sumitomo Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. (CHINA) Holdings.