So, who will trust the electricity regulated from country X or Y for the 15 years typically needed to repay the investment?

On the other hand, offering to build wind turbines in poor countries would be a smart form of aid - with just a little bit of training to do the necessary maintenance, it would provide something valuable to the locals for many years.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

China may be world leader in grid-independent wind power, with lots of mini-turbines in Inner Mongolia. It catched on to the global trend of large grid-connected parks only recently, but is moderately ambitious: China had 764 MW at the end of 2004, and plans at least 3500 MW more by 2010. And, reflecting complaints in other high-tech sectors, Chinese producers are already copying Western technology :-) (Unfortunately, this is nothing compared to what the Party concrete heads plan in new coal-fired power plants.)

In Southeast Asia and Africa, I only know of Western-financed projects. The largest is in Egypt, where a total of 146 MW is on the grid.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}