Villagers in Bulungkol, located in the southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, didn't consider abundant wind and sunshine a blessing until they saw how the windmill-and-solar system works to generate power.

"The region is rich in wind and sunshine, making renewable energy much easier," said Shen Yiyang, programme manager of the Energy & Environment project for UNDP, the major sponsor. "The energy would be useless if we couldn't build a renewable energy system."

The village-level system uses mainly wind and solar power, with diesel as a back-up.

"If there's no wind, we still have sunshine," Shen said. "If the day is overcast, we can always use the diesel.

"With battery set, the electricity can last for 48 consecutive hours," said Luo Bin, Party secretary in Bulungkol County.

Renewable energy can be cheaper than traditional grid extensions in rural China, said William Wallace, senior technical adviser for the UNDP/GEF Renewable Energy Project.

"The more remote the place is, the more expensive for the line extension," Wallace said. For example, it would cost at least 20 million yuan (US$2.5 million) to extend electricity lines to the Bulungkol Village from the county which is 160 kilometres away.

In China, using renewable energy is critical to attaining the goal of poverty reduction in the countryside while also protecting the local environment, said Kishan Khoday, assistant resident representative and team leader for Energy & Environment of the UNDP.

The advantages have promoted renewable energy facilities across rural Kezhou in Xinjiang, which has jurisdiction over the village of Bulungkol.

Forty solar power stations were built, generating 494.8 kilowatts to 15,000 residents in 37 villages, in 2002 and 2003, Kezhou government figures indicated.

The move is part of the Chinese Government's National Township Electrification Programme, which was launched in 2000.

The programme aims to electrify about 1,000 townships in seven provinces in western China and has a budget of 2 billion yuan (US$250 million) to subsidize the installation of village-scale hybrid systems.

The use of renewable energy is in accordance with the nation's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), which calls for 16 per cent of power supply to come from renewable sources by 2020.

"It is a massive goal and an ambitious target," said Khalid Malik, UN resident co-ordinator in China. "But if any country in the world can do this, China can. The point is how to do it at the right price and to have the right market."

Wallace agreed, adding that the pricing of alternative energy for rural residents, which might be higher than the price of electricity from traditional grids, should be regulated at an affordable level so that the maintenance of the operation can be guaranteed.

(China Daily 09/26/2006 page5)