Amid global energy shortages and worsening pollution, promoting the development of clean and renewable energy has become a major issue of concern both domestically and internationally. The "2008 Power Grid and Clean Energy Technology Forum," hosted by the Northwest Power Grid Company, was held today in Xi'an. Government officials, energy companies, and experts from five northwestern provinces (Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang) reached a consensus on actively developing renewable energy in Northwest China.

　　my country's energy resources are mainly concentrated in the west and north. Renewable energy primarily includes hydropower, wind power, and solar power. Northwest China boasts vast land, abundant wind and solar energy resources, and the upper reaches of the Yellow River are one of China's three major hydropower bases, along with rich coal, oil, and natural gas resources. Among these, onshore wind power has become the most distinctive clean energy source in Northwest China. Gansu Province has proposed the concept of "building the Hexi Wind Power Corridor to recreate the 'Three Gorges Dam' on land in the west." Currently, the National Development and Reform Commission has approved the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" for the Gansu Jiuquan 10-million-kilowatt wind power base, specifying that by 2015, the installed wind power capacity will reach 12.71 million kilowatts. According to the latest Xinjiang wind power development plan, by 2020, Xinjiang will have five 1,000-megawatt-level wind power bases, with a total installed capacity of 10 million kilowatts, and a long-term plan to reach 20 million kilowatts. It is understood that the five northwestern provinces have all formulated a series of renewable energy development plans. Therefore, the development of clean energy such as wind power and the exploration of grid connection technologies have become the focus of this forum.

　　The two-day forum highlighted the theme of "Building a Strong Grid, Contributing to Clean Energy, and Constructing a Harmonious Society," exploring new technologies in grid and clean energy development and utilization. Experts and professors from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the China Resources Utilization Association, the National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Accenture, among others, delivered speeches or gave special reports, conducting extensive and in-depth exchanges on clean energy development and utilization, including wind power development and utilization research in Northwest China. Grid and clean energy technologies mainly include the development and application of hydropower, wind power, solar photovoltaic power, and biomass power generation, as well as corresponding power transmission technologies. Attendees at this forum included Wu Guihui, Deputy Director of the National Energy Administration; Wu Dengchang, Vice Governor of Shaanxi Province; Liu Yanliang, Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region CPPCC; and relevant leaders from the State Grid Corporation of China.