CHINA’S WIND CHALLENGES

Infographic: Waste, Poor Planning Blunt China’s Wind Energy Ambitions

Siqi Han, May 27, 2014 (Wilson Center New Security Beat)

“China leads the world in installed wind power by a wide margin, but last year, when it came to actual generation, China produced 20 percent less electricity from wind than the United States…[China is also] the largest producer and consumer of coal...[and] the largest investor in renewable energy…But waste and poor planning have left many new wind farms idle or disconnected from power grids…In 2010, more than 30 percent of the country’s wind farms were not connected to a power grid, leading Chinese energy experts to coin the phrase ‘garbage wind’…

“…There has been some recent progress towards better integrating these new power sources. The national plan is for 11 percent of the country’s energy consumption to come from renewable resources this year…[T]he number of disconnected turbines [dropped] to 19 percent in 2012 and 15 percent in 2013…Last year, the national average for overall curtailment dropped to 11 percent…The United States, notably, has also struggled with underutilization…[but curtailment dropped] as low as one percent in 2013…[I]f China is to ever reach the clean energy future it wants – and others have urged it to towards – these lessons will need to be learned…” click here for more

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