UPDATE 1-Eurus Energy sees wind farm opportunities in US

* Inconsistency in policy a risk in China

* Financial crisis hits India wind market (Adds details)

By Risa Maeda

TOKYO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Eurus Energy Holdings Corp, Japan's biggest wind farm operator, sees business opportunities in the United States, but believes China is risky in terms of government support for the sector, the company's President and Chief Executive Tetsuro Nagata said.

"We are not sure if their rules are consistent," he told Reuters in an interview, referring to China's tax and other incentives to lure foreign investment into the wind market.

Government support is essential because the building and operating costs of a wind farm are about 20 percent higher than those of conventional thermal or nuclear power plants, Nagata said.

Helped by funds from rich nations seeking U.N. carbon offsets from clean energy projects overseas, China is about to top India to become Asia's biggest market for wind energy.

Nagata also said the company was looking to set up a wind farm project in South Korea, where it has already entered the solar power business, and sees potential in the Philippines, Taiwan and India, where wind is strong and consistent.

"India is stable. But the country is the hardest hit by the financial crisis, with funds from rich countries being pulled out and several projects on sale," he said.

"Our focus is now on the United States, which also has a high potential in the solar power business," he said.

Installed wind power capacity in the United States rose 50 percent in 2008 to 25 gigawatts, according to U.S. industry data, exceeding that of previous No.1 Germany.

Eurus Energy is 60 percent owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc (9501.T). Trading firm Toyota Tsusho Corp (8015.T) owns the rest. Eurus' Texas wind farm with a total of 180 megawatts is the company's largest and began operations last month.

CHILLY FOR WHILE

But the United States would face a slowdown before growth in the wind farm sector picks up to 20-30 percent a year, Nagata said. He could not say when growth would pick up.

"It's going to be chilly business conditions for a while," Nagata said. Although the company had no plans to cancel or sell any of the projects in progress, it also had no plans to buy projects from rivals, he said.

The global wind market is widely expected to expand in the next decade or two due to governments' efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions, blamed for global warming.

The International Energy Agency said in the World Energy Outlook 2008 it forecast capacity of the wind power sector to rise to 551 gigawatts in 2030 from 74 gigawatts in 2006, or annual growth rate on average of 8.7 percent.

Eurus runs wind farms in Japan, South Korea, Spain, Italy, Britain and the United States, many with local companies.

Its wind farms have gross wind power capacity of 1.74 gigawatts. Of that, Europe takes 40 percent, the United States 30 percent and Japan 20 percent. for related graphics, click

here (Editing by Sue Thomas)