China In Record Wind Build Rate

China embarked on wind power frenzy, says IEA; China has been building two wind turbines every hour…

Roger Harrabin, 20 September 2016 (BBC News)

“This is the world's biggest programme of turbine installation [ever], double that of its nearest rival, the US…The nation’s entire annual increase in energy demand has been fulfilled from the wind…But the [International Energy Agency (IEA)] warns China has built so much coal-fired generating capacity that it is turning off wind turbines for 15% of the time…[because] coal-fired power stations are given priority access to the grid…The average European wind farm is forced to stop generating between 1-2% of the year…State media has reported China’s plans to impose a moratorium on all new coal-fired plants until 2018…The IEA says China installed more than 30,000 MW of new wind energy in 2015 – partly thanks to a rush driven by the Chinese government making its existing subsidies less attractive…Construction has slackened in 2016, but only to a level of more than one turbine per hour…” click here for more

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