Report: China’s Installed Wind Capacity to Reach 495 GW by 2030

Wind power installed capacity in China will more than treble from approximately 149 Gigawatts (GW) in 2015 to over 495 GW by 2030, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9%, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company’s latest report, Wind Power in China, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016, states that China has the highest wind power globally by far, accounting for a third of cumulative wind power capacity worldwide in 2015, followed by the US with 17% of the global share.

“Annual wind power installations may not be as high over the next decade as in previous years, as the CAGR of installed capacity for wind was 24.4% between 2006 and 2015, but the market is still expected to be very strong, with average annual installations to 2030 being in the range of 21-22 GW,” Aswani Srivatsava, GlobalData’s analyst covering power, said.

According to Srivatsava, supportive government policies that include an attractive concessional program and the availability of low-cost financing from government banks are the main reasons for the success of the Chinese wind power market.

“China’s quick adoption of wind power can be attributed to a wider global trend driven by depleting fossil fuel reserves, the declining cost of wind power generation and a growing sensitivity towards environmental issues,” Srivatsava said.

“China’s 13th Five Year Plan raised the 2020 wind target to 250 GW, and aims to shift focus from scale expansion towards quality and efficiency. In order to tackle rising pollution levels and reduce its dependence on imported oil, the country is promoting renewable energy sources such as wind. The government has a number of financial incentives such as feed-in tariffs in place to continue the development of wind power.”