Companies wanting success in China urged to take advantage of CDM

Companies that want to make money from wind farm development in China "must make use of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)," Lv Xuedo of China's Ministry of Science and Technology told delegates at the Wind Power Shanghai 2007 conference. Under CDM, a flexible policy mechanism for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide introduced under the UN's Kyoto Protocol, every one megawatt of wind capacity built could earn around 2000 carbon emission reduction (CER) credits a year, said Lv. He estimated additional annual income per megawatt of EUR 20,000 with a credit rate of EUR 10, though the rate for primary CERs in China is typically EUR 8. "Little by little with CDM you can make money," he said. The Chinese government has launched a CDM fund. Managed by the finance ministry, it plans to gather money from Chinese CDM projects and reinvest it in further energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.