A study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says that China can increase its wind power dramatically, if it adjusts its grid operations.

According to the study, wind power could provide up to 26% of China’s electricity demand by 2030. This is almost ten times the increase from 2015, which was at 3%.

This transition can be regarded as phenomenal as it can drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, since China is the largest greenhouse gas emissions producer in the world.

But, the study says there is an issue to be tackled here, which is not about building wind farms at the windiest areas, but to construct them in areas where they can be integrated more easily into the existing grid.

MIT Sloan School of Management, Tsinghua-MIT China Energy and Climate Project director, and member of the MIT Energy Initiative Valerie Karplus said: "Wind that is built in distant, resource-rich areas benefits from more favorable physical properties but suffers from existing constraints on the operation of the power system.

"Those constraints include greater transmission costs and the cost of "curtailment," when available wind power is not used."

The study found that there are certain regions in China with better wind potential, but the issue here is about the existing constraints through infrastructure.

But, if China develops wind farms near its existing electricity gird, then it can only use about 10% of the wind potential.

According to the report, even harnessing that 10% of the wind energy can help China in realising its pledge to produce at least 26% of its electricity through renewable sources by 2030 at the Paris Climate agreement in 2015.

Until now, China’s electricity grid has been oriented towards using coal. But now, thanks to the Paris Climate Agreement, the orientation has to move toward renewables like wind power.

Another issue that China faces today is the institutions that are in place. It could be difficult to implement the establishment of regulatory structures and policy incentives to capture benefits.

On the other hand, China does not have a strict quota system for coal-powered electricity. Instead, it encourages competition for long term contracts to deliver coal-based electricity.

The study says that the same system could be diverted towards wind and solar power to gain maximum advantage of renewables.