Overview of Wind Power in China: Status and Future

Jianbo Yang, Qunyi Liu, Xin Li and Xiandan Cui
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Jianbo Yang: Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China
Qunyi Liu: Research Center for Strategy of Global Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China
Xin Li: College of Management Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610051, China
Xiandan Cui: College of Management Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610051, China

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 8, 1-12

Abstract: Due to the rapid economic development in China, the conflict between the increasing traditional energy consumption and the severe environmental threats is more and more serious. To ease the situation, greater use of wind energy in China could be the solution for energy conservation and sustainable environment in the long run. This paper describes the presentation of wind power in China, which covers distribution, bases, installed capacity, power generation from the spatial perspective and the environmental benefit. In addition, grey model (GM(1,1) ) and scenario analysis are employed to forecast the installed capacity in China from 2017 to 2025, then the evaluation of two methods is presented. By this research, the results are shown as the following: (1) the North region has great wind energy with 2500–3000 giga watt (GW) and the offshore wind energy in the Southeast is abundant; (2) the Inner Mongolia base located in North China makes a great contribution to wind power as well as having great potential for wind power development with the potential of 1300 GW; (3) the growth rate of installed capacity and wind power generation in China is declining with 100% in 2006 to 30% in 2015, 107% in 2009 to 17% in 2015, respectively; (4) the “three North” region has made a great contribution to current installed capacity and wind power generation with 74% and 71%, respectively; (5) wind power has significant environmental benefits with coal reduction of 23,887 × 10 4 tce, CO 2 reduction of 66,854 × 10 4 tons and SO 2 reduction of 173 × 10 4 tons in total from 2008 to 2015; (6) the installed capacity in China from 2017 to 2025 is predicted utilizing a GM(1,1) model with 38,311.1810 × 10 3 GW in 2025, while, with a scenario analysis, the installed capacity will reach up to 40,000 × 10 3 GW in 2025 under the high GDP growth rate and 29,000 × 10 3 GW in 2025 under the low GDP growth rate, respectively. Finally, it can be concluded that China has a solid foundation for the wind power development due to its abundant wind resources and great potential for wind power. Furthermore, the sustainable development can be guaranteed, and reduction in energy usage as well as emissions can be achieved by promoting wind power widely and effectively.

Keywords: China; wind energy distribution; wind power generation; GM(1,1); sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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