The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will partly finance a 73 million-U.S. dollar wind farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to support China's efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote private investment in renewable energy, the bank said Tuesday.

ADB is extending a long-term local currency loan of up to 164 million yuan (24 million dollars) to Datang Sino-Japan (Chifeng) Renewable Power Corporation, a joint venture between state-owned China Datang Corporation and Japan's Kyushu Electric Power Company, Sumitomo Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation (CHINA) Holdings, the Manila-based development bank said in a statement. It will be the first private-sector wind farm to be financed by ADB in China.

With its economy still growing strongly, China has become the second-largest power consumer in the world, after the United States. The Chinese government has identified wind power as a commercially viable clean energy alternative to fossil fuels. In a nation with abundant wind resources, it's estimated that if the industry were fully developed, it could produce about 1,000 gigawatts (GW), more than 1.5 times the country's current electricity generation capacity.

"The lack of finance on reasonable terms has held back the development of clean energy projects in the PRC (People's Republic of China). This project could become a model for future collaborations between state-owned enterprises and foreign investors in renewable energy projects, and may encourage the PRC' s private sector to invest in wind power projects," said Hisaka Kimura, Investment Specialist with ADB's Private Sector Operations Department.

Inner Mongolia is considered a prime location for a medium- to large-scale commercial wind power industry. The proposed 12-square- kilometer wind farm in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, is expected to provide a steady source of electricity for the national power grid.

In 2008, China generated 12 GW from wind power. The government aims to boost that to 100 GW per year by 2020. The Chifeng project is expected to produce about 133 gigawatt-hours a year.