China recently enacted two strategies to boost achievement toward its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals and tasks: the 14th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development and the Implementation Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of New Energy in the New Era.
In early July, the State Grid Corporation of China released news of the first batch of 2022 subsidy funds from the Ministry of Finance of China. The total amount of $5.96 billion covers investments in wind power ($1.57 billion), solar power generation ($3.89 billion), and biomass energy generation ($500 million).
Through the first five months of 2022, China's newly installed renewable energy capacity reached 42.81 million kW, accounting for 81% of the total newly installed power generation capacity. China's newly installed photovoltaic capacity is estimated to reach 100 GW in 2022, an increase of 82% YOY. Newly installed onshore wind capacity is projected to exceed 50 GW this year; offshore wind will increase by about 6 GW; and newly installed wind power capacity will be 56 GW, a YOY increase of 18%.
So far, China has put into operation 102 offshore wind farms with an installed capacity of 24 GW. This covers about 5,000 offshore wind turbines, accounting for more than 45% of the global commissioned offshore wind power, making China the largest offshore producer in the world. Clarksons Research predicts that the scale of China's offshore wind power operation is expected to reach about 60 GW by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, an increase of about 150% from its current level of operation (24 GW). Demand for offshore wind power equipment in the second half of the year and the next few years should increase, providing good growth opportunities.
Compared with onshore wind power, offshore wind power is considered to have significant advantages, such as a higher turbine utilization rate and larger unit capacity. This year, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and other coastal provinces have announced their offshore wind power development plan during the 14th Five-Year Plan. By 2025, the new installed capacity of offshore power generation will increase to 60 GW, which is about 6.7 times the cumulative installed capacity at the end of 2020; so, the new marketing demands are tremendous.
China's offshore wind power industry is on the rise, and its growth is clear. In 2021, the new wind power grid-connected installed capacity was 47.57 GW, a YOY shrinking of 33.63%; of this total, the newly added offshore wind power grid-connected installed capacity was 16.9 GW, a YOY growth of 452.29%.
Some of the major wind energy equipment manufacturers are Dongfang Electric Corp. in Sichuan province, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Titan Wind Energy (Suzhou) Co., Jiangsu Rainbow Heavy Industries Co., and Ming Yang Smart Energy Group in Guangdong province.
For more information, please contact Fred Qian at fredqian@AMTchina.org.
