China wind power output to surge by 2050

China intends to increase the electricity it derives from wind power by 25 times to 1,000GW.

A roadmap drawn up for the country’s wind power industry by the National Energy Administration targets China’s wind power capacity at 100 GW in 2015, 200 GW in 2020, 400 GW in 2030 and 1,000 GW in 2050. China’s current capacity is just 40 GW.

China will have to invest some US$1.9 trillion to attain its 2050 target. The roadmap also predicts that the costs of onshore wind power will be equal to those of coal by around 2020.

“By 2050, wind power projects are expected to address 17% of the power demand in China,” said Wang Zhongying, director, research fellow at the Center for Renewable Energy Development of the Energy Research Institute, a part of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The roadmap gives priority to the development of onshore wind power projects supplemented by near-shore offshore demonstration projects before 2020. From then on until 2030, emphasis will be on both the development of onshore and near-shore wind power projects supplemented by far-offshore demonstration projects. From 2031 to 2050, China will go for the synchronous development of all three types of projects.

The surge in wind power projects presents sizeable opportunities for wind power equipment manufacturers.

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