Chinese wind energy growing dynamically to reach new heights

The wind energy market in China has been growing rapidly and is expected to grow further. It is the fastest growing segment in China’s renewable energy industry.  China was the largest wind energy market in the world during 2009 and it has been able to more than double its capacity for generating wind energy from 12.1 Giga Watts (GW) in 2008 to 25.1 GW towards the later part of 2009. Not surprisingly, a third of the global wind power capacity addition in 2009 has been made in China. According to researchers, China could meet all of her electricity demands from wind power by 2030.

Major government initiatives together with large scale demand for green energy has been attracting investments from the domestic as well as foreign markets. The abundance of resources and strong investment potential are also favourable conditions for further growth of the industry. However, challenges such as the weak grid structure, low supply of resources and price barriers continued to plague the industry. Going forward, increased international participation is expected with a concurrent focus on off-shore capacity generation and coal back-up for wind powered electricity.