China to smash 60GW wind power

China’s grid-connected wind projects are expected to exceed 60GW by the end of the year – making it the country’s third largest power source. Speaking at the ‘China Windpower’ conference […]

China’s grid-connected wind projects are expected to exceed 60GW by the end of the year – making it the country’s third largest power source.

Speaking at the ‘China Windpower’ conference in Beijing, the Vice Director of the country’s National Energy Administration said wind farms would generate more than 100 billion kWh of energy by the end of 2012. The nation had around 52.58GW of wind turbines connected to the grid in the first half of this year.

According to Chinese reports, Liu Qi said China leads the world in installed wind power capacity but a “phenomenon of abandoning wind” still exists in some parts. He said: “This reflects that traditional energy system, management system and policies cannot fully meet the requirements of new energy development such as wind power.”

He added: “Promoting the industry’s sustainable development is complex and will surely take time. Efforts in the future will focus on strengthening China’s wind power system to create a larger market and on improvements in policies and laws.”

China aims to have 100GW of grid-connected wind power capacity by 2015 and 200GW by 2020, according to its 12th Five-Year plan for renewable energy.

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