Wind Energy in China
2022 wind energy numbers
In 2022, China continued to have the highest wind power capacity in the world. Although the amount of newly added capacity decreased by 10% compared to the previous year, a significant 50 GW was created. Hereby, the accumulated capacity almost reached 400 GW¹.
The grid-connected capacity increased to 365 GW with the addition of nearly 38 GW in 2022. The newly added and cumulative grid-integrated wind power capacities accounted for 18.8% and 14.3% of installed power capacities nationwide in 2022. Wind power remains China’s third
largest energy generation source, following thermal and hydroelectricity. The average full-load-hour of wind power was 2,259 hours, increasing by13 hours from 2021. Wind-generated
electricity totalled 760 TWh, a considerable increase of 16.5% from the previous year. Wind-generated electricity accounted for 8.8% of the total electricity generation, an increase of
0.9 percentage points over 2021. The average wind curtailment rate was 3.2%, which remained the same level as in 2021.
To read more about China’s wind energy sector, read CWEA’s chapter in the IEA Wind TCP Annual Report.
National Targets
Under the requirements and guidance of the “carbon peak and carbon neutrality” goals and the 14th FiveYear Plan, the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Renewable Energy was released in June 2022. The main targets aim for renewable energy to account for more than 50% of the increase in primary energy consumption, the increase in electricity generated from renewable energy to account for more than 50% of the total increase in electricity consumption, and the electricity generation from wind and solar energy to double. By 2025, the total national renewable energy consumption distribution should equal about 33%, and non-hydropower consumption weight should consist of about 18%.
The measures planned to achieve these goals include vigorously promoting the base development of wind power and photovoltaic power generation, including the development of wind and solar power projects in the desert and Gobi areas. Additionally, by promoting the construction of offshore wind power bases in an orderly manner, focusing on building five offshore wind power bases in the Shandong Peninsula, Yangtze River Delta, southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, and Beibu Gulf. Moreover, actively promoting the distribution and nearby development of wind power, including constructing wind power in industrial parks, development zones, mines, and rural areas. To follow the national plan, 25 provincial plans on wind developments were released, with more than 300 GW of wind power to be constructed in the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
Progress & Operational Details
By the end of 2022, China installed 49.83 GW of new wind power capacity. This accounted for 49% of global new wind capacity for the year. The accumulated wind power capacity in China reached 395.57 GW, accounting for 47% of wind power capacity worldwide, maintaining the highest wind power capacity in the world. In 2022, a total of 11,098 new wind turbines were installed, of which 695 were offshore, and 604 wind turbines decommissioned, bringing the national total of operating turbines to 181,660. The average capacity of newly installed wind turbines was above 4.49 MW, an increase of 27.8% compared to 2021. The top five provinces with the most new installed capacity were:
Inner Mongolia (12.6 GW)
• Gansu (4.5 GW)
• Shandong (3.7 GW)
• Xinjiang (3.1 GW)
• Jilin (2.9 GW)
Together, these accounted for 54.1% of the new capacity nationwide. The “Three North” regions and the middle, eastern, and southern regions of China, respectively, account for 66% and 34% of new installations. The average weighted full-load-hour of operating wind farms was 2,259 hours, an increase of 13 hours compared to 2021.
National RDD Priorities and Budget
In 2022, the national RD&D focused on building the multi-energy complementary clean energy bases, including the integration development of wind, solar, hydro, ocean energy, clean coal-fired plants, grid, load and energy storage projects, desert and Gobi wind power, deep-sea offshore wind power and several transmission channels, new types of wind turbines and their key components, and medium voltage, direct current, low-frequency technologies, etc. 2022 is the second year of the “14th Five-Year Plan” development. The relevant RD&D actions made achievements which were invested mainly by the developers, manufacturers and research bodies.