CHINA WIND SETS TO SEA

China May Boost Offshore Wind Power to 30GW; China will expand its offshore wind power installed capacity to 5 gigawatts (GW) by 2015 and 30GW by 2020, according to the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA)…
2011 May 16 (CRI English)

"…China, the world's largest wind power developer, with a total of 44.7GW wind turbine installed capacity by the end of 2010, has accelerated developing offshore wind power…[D]evelopment in China remains in the early stages due to complex operating environments for offshore turbines, high technological requirements and construction difficulties, according to Qin Haiyan, secretary general of the China Wind Energy Association (CWEA).

"In 2009, China had only 63,000 kilowatts offshore wind turbines installed, about 21 percent of the newly installed offshore wind power in the United Kingdom, the fastest growing country of the year…The year 2010 marked the start of China's offshore wind power sector's transition from research and pilot projects to operational wind farms."

(from Energy Research Institute of NDRC & China Renewable Energy Industry Association
March 2010 - click to enlarge)

"In March 2010, Shi Lishan, deputy director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Bureau (NEB), said top priority would be given to developing offshore wind power projects…In June 2010, the first stage project of East Sea Bridge Offshore Wind Farm went into operation in Shanghai. Totaling 102MW, it is China's first large-scale offshore wind farm located to the east side of the Shanghai East Sea Bridge. It comprises 34 units of 3MW Sinovel turbines.

"Offshore wind power construction is a priority in China this year. In January, the NEB said China would kick off construction of 1GW offshore wind power projects in 2011…The public tender for the 1GW offshore concession projects, totaling four wind farms in east China's Jiangsu Province, was announced in October 2010. They will use Sinovel, Goldwind and Shanghai Electric turbines."

(from Energy Research Institute of NDRC & China Renewable Energy Industry Association
March 2010 - click to enlarge)

"The China Meteorological Administration has estimated China's offshore wind potential at more than 750GW - far higher than the 253GW potential for land-based wind…China's eastern coastal areas, particularly Jiangsu Province, boast sound conditions to develop wind farms on beaches and in offshore areas. These coastal provinces are largely the economic engines of the country, raising great demands for electric power. But they run short of fossil energy sources.

"Developing offshore wind farms in these areas will reduce local energy shortages and avoid the problem of long-distance transmission experienced by China's major land-based wind farms…"