China has cut forecasts for offshore wind power installations by 60 percent–the nation had projected 5,000 megawatts of capacity by 2015 and 30,000 megawatts by 2020, but has reassessed its ambitions. China now aims to install approximately 2,000 megawatts of capacity by 2015 and 10,000 by 2020.
“The pace and scale of offshore wind are full of changes,” said Li Ping, an official from the National Energy Administration (NEA), the organization responsible for the figures.
China is being “more cautious” in its plans to install offshore wind because the enterprise is “more risky and costly,” according to honorary chairman of the Chinese Wind Energy Association, Shi Pengfei.
The 30,000 megawatts projected for 2020 would have been enough to supply 32 million homes. The current goal is less than one-third of that.
The policy adjustment will be the first time China has missed a renewable energy goal. The change will also set back the $15 billion wind power industry
The estimates are preliminary, according to Li, who spoke at a conference in Beijing Thursday.
Currently, China has over 439 megawatts of offshore wind power. The nation may install a further 500 megawatts next year and 1,000 in 2016, according to sources.
China recently expanded its wind energy so rapidly that the power infrastructure was unable to match production–approximately 12 percent of onshore wind turbines were not connected to the grid last year, and another 11 percent were idle because transmission lines were insufficient to the available load. China is slowing things down somewhat, as is reflected in the NEA preliminary estimates.
By Andy Stern
Photo: Dylan Passmore