China Beats U.S. to Become Number One In Installed Wind Power

China surpassed the U.S. this year to become the number one in the world for installed wind power generating capacity. In the last six years, installed wind power generating capacity in China increased from 2,000 megawatts (MW) to 52,580 MW, according to the country’s state grid company, the State Grid Corporation, which is the country’s largest utility company. In 2011, China generated 70.6 terrawatt hours (TWh) of wind power, a 96 percent increase. The Chinese government projects that China’s wind generating capacity would be more than 100,000 MW in 2015 and 200,000 MW in 2020.

China’s on-grid capacity reached over 50 gigawatts (GW) to date, according to the State Grid Corporation. This year on-grid wind power capacity under State Grid reached 50.26 GW, an annual growth rate of 87 percent for the last six years.

Zhang Zhengling, spokesman for the State Grid, said China’s wind power generation reached a “relatively high level” after measures were taken to monitor and adjust use. However, there could be more efficiency. Regional networks need to be linked to the national power grid, and until that is accomplished it remains an obstacle to further growth, Zhang said.

“The key problem is that regional connections are still weak, and there is not yet a unified national market and corresponding grid network,” said Shu Yinbiao, deputy manager of the State Grid. Shu said that China needs to fast track construction of trans-regional power grids

The International Wind Energy Development report in 2010 predicted that China could create up to 230 GW of wind power capacity by 2030. The report also made predictions about the global market. The wind power market, according to the report, is expected to grow from $96.4 billion in 2011 to $161.2 billion in 2015. By 2020, wind power expected to generate 9.1 percent of the world’s power needs.

The report predicts an average global growth rate of 15.5 percent a year for new annual installations through 2015, which would result in a total global capacity of 513.6 GW by 2015. The report also predicts an average annual growth rate of 11.5 percent from 2016 to 2020, which would bring world capacity to almost 1,000 GW by 2020.