A new report released by the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) and sponsored by Greenpeace and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) shows that China could at least double its current wind energy target for 2020.
According to the report, Wind Force 12 in China, China’s current wind energy plan is to reach 20 GW by 2020 requiring 20,000 typical modern wind turbines, worth some $40 billion. However, the Chinese industry believes that 40 GW can be delivered within 15 years, rising to 400 GW by 2050.
Li Junfeng, director of CREIA and the report’s lead author says: “According to the China Meteorological Administration there is enough viable wind resource in China to power the whole country completely. The capacity of wind potential in viable windy locations in China could match current total national capacity of all China’s existing power stations combined, four times over.”
China’s first Renewable Energy Law, which comes into force on 1 January, is widely expected to mark the take off of the Chinese wind industry.