China Offers Solar Subsidy; Spanish Wind Firm Seeking U.S. Funds

The role of government in stimulating the development of renewable energy was on display this week on two fronts. In China, the Ministry of Finance announced that it will subsidize 50 percent of the investment in new solar projects, including helping pay for expansion of power transmission networks. In remote regions, the ministry said, subsidies could reach up to 70 percent of the cost of solar projects. The government also is mandating that operators of the electricity grid buy the entire surplus electricity output from solar power projects. In the U.S., Spain’s Iberdrola company — the largest wind energy firm in the world — announced that it will be seeking $500 million of the $3 billion that has been earmarked in the financial stimulus bill this year for certain clean energy projects. Iberdrola officials said they plan to use the government subsidies to boost its wind power production in the U.S. nearly four times in the near future, from 850 megawatts to more than 3,000 megawatts.