Wind power stations in Rudong county of Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province set a historical record in electricity generation last year, Rudong branch of State Grid Corp of China announced on Jan 3.

Statistics show that the county's wind power plants generated 4.03 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity as of Jan 1, a year-on-year increase of 23 percent, making the county a leading player in wind power industry across the country.

The result comes from the county's years of efforts in promoting wind power programs and building a wind energy industrial chain.

Rudong county launched its first wind power program in 2004. Over the past 14 years, the county has led the Jiangsu province in total installed capacity, with the number reaching 1.8 million kilowatts, according to the local government.

Huaneng offshore wind farm is the number one wind-power producer in Rudong county, while also being the largest offshore wind energy program in Asia.

In 2018, the wind farm generated total electricity of 900 million kWh.

With a total investment of 5.38 billion yuan ($783 million), the farm was built with a total installed capacity of 300 megawatts.

Since official operation in September 2017, the output value of Huaneng offshore wind farm has reached over 700 million yuan.

Wind power plants, including the Huaneng offshore wind farm, provide around 80 percent of total electricity production, taking the new energy sector in the county to a new level.  

Zhang Jun, head of the local energy department said that the sales revenue of the new energy sector, centering on wind power in the county totaled 23 billion yuan in 2018, accounting for 16 percent of its total industrial revenue.

He said that the booming wind power industry has also created environmental benefits.

During the first 11 months last year, the wind power plants in Rudong county reduced 18.5 million tons in carbon dioxide emissions and 64,000 tons in sulfur dioxide emissions, saving 7.19 million tons of coals.