U.S. Renewable Energy Group

A consortium of Chinese and American companies announced a joint venture Thursday to construct a massive 600-megawatt wind farm in West Texas, using wind turbines manufactured in China.

Construction of the $1.5 billion wind farm would be funded largely by Chinese financiers, with an assist from the United States government in the form of loan guarantees and grants from the federal stimulus package.

“This wind farm project came about thanks to the openness of the United States for investments in the field of renewable energy,” said John Lin, the chief operating officer of Shenyang Power Group, an industrial group in China focused on renewable energy projects.

The project would mark the first instance of a Chinese manufacturer exporting wind turbines to the United States market, according to the vice mayor of the city of Shenyang, Yang Yazhou, who spoke at a news conference announcing the joint venture.

The farm is to be built on 36,000 acres in western Texas — an exact location was not specified — and will use 240 2.5-megawatt turbines manufactured in China. Construction is expected to begin next March. The project will create an estimated 300 temporary construction jobs, and 30 permanent jobs.

Partners in the project are the U.S. Renewable Energy Group, an investment firm; A-Power Energy Generation Systems, a Chinese wind turbine manufacturer; and an Austin-based wind developer, Cielo Wind Power.

The use of Chinese turbines in a major American wind project could add fuel to concerns over China’s protectionist policies in renewable energy manufacturing. China is already a dominant player in solar panel manufacturing, and exports 95 percent of its solar components to the United States and Europe.

According to a recent article in The New York Times by Keith Bradsher, China required 80 percent of the materials used to construct its first solar power plant earlier this year come from China.

Foreign manufacturers of wind turbines have struggled to gain entry into the Chinese market, Mr. Bradsher reported.

The United States energy secretary, Steven Chu, recently warned that the United States could lose its competitive edge on renewable energy manufacturing to China, which has instituted ambitious renewable energy mandates in order to reduce carbon emissions and limit pollution.

American pressure on China over the issue of protectionism appears to have had some impact. At a meeting on Thursday in Hangzhou with the Chinese vice premier, Wang Qishan, Mr. Chu announced that China had agreed to remove local content requirements on wind turbines, which have drawn complaints from European and American manufacturers.

The turbines for the Texas wind farm, although slated for construction in China, will use technology from the United States and Europe, including a turbine designed by German wind power manufacturer Fuhrlander and gear box design by General Electric.