China installed more than a third of all global onshore wind capacity in 2012, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Last year, the country installed 15.9GW of onshore wind turbines, becoming the world’s largest wind market in terms of annual installed capacity, despite an 18% decline from 2011.
Inner Mongolia tops the list of installers in China in 2012 with 1.7GW of new capacity, followed by Shandong with 1.4GW and Hebei with 1.1GW, reports Bloomberg.
However, the BNEF said that nearly 15GW, which accounts for 20% of China’s wind capacity, remained unconnected to the country’s grid.
The US installed a record 13.2GW in 2012, representing 14% fewer wind turbines than installed by China.
China is expected to install 16.6GW of wind power capacity in 2013, and 17GW to 18GW in 2014 and 2015.
BNEF forecasts that China is likely to achieve its end-2015 goal of 100GW of grid-connected capacity a year early.
In China, wind energy has become the third-biggest energy resource, and generates 2% of the nation’s total electricity, according to China’s State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Image: In 2012, China installed 15.9GW of onshore wind turbines. Photo: courtesy of WL Tarbert.
.gif)
