China’s offshore wind energy to reach 5 GW by 2015

China is targeting five gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power installed capacity by 2015, a senior researcher from the Hydropower and Water Resources Planning Designing General Institute (Hydropower and Water Institute) forecast at an industry workshop in Shanghai June 15.

China currently has an aggregate offshore wind farm installed capacity of 142.5 megawatts (MW), said Yi Yuechun, Vice General Engineer of the Hydropower and Water Institute. The country is equipped with the wind turbines technology and expertise to meet these goals, said Yi.

He added that he expects the country’s offshore wind energy installed capacity to reach 30 GW by 2020. China has approximately 1 terawatt (TW) of exploitable wind power resources, of which 700 GW is offshore, according to industry estimates.

China’s coastal regions, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, as well as Shanghai municipality have ambitious off shore wind power development plans during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), said Yi.