3 stocks for investing in China’s mighty wind power industry
In August 2007 only one Chinese wind turbine maker, Xinjiang Goldwind, made Merrill Lynch’s list of the top ten wind turbine makers in the world.
In 2010 two Chinese companies Xinjiang Goldwind and Sinovel Wind Group both make the top 5. Sinovel has climbed to No. 3 in the world.
Even though neither company sells much of anything outside of China. (In 2009 the two companies exported 20 units with a total capacity of 29 megawatts.)
The growth story is spectacular but not especially surprising. $47 billion of China’s stimulus spending over the last two years went into alternative power generation such as solar and wind. A local content law that required 50% of any turbine purchased with government money to be made in China was revised to require 70% local content.
China installed two times the number of wind turbines in 2009 than it had in 2008. Wind power capacity soared to 25.8 gigawatts in 2009 from 12.2 gigawatts in 2008. And in 2010 plans are to add another 18 gigawatts of capacity.
The investment story isn’t quite that simple. Read more
