China's installed wind power capacity continued to grow in the first quarter of this year – according to the latest figures from the National Energy Administration (NEA).
In the first quarter of 2017, China’s installed wind capacity increased by 13 per cent compared to the same period last year – bringing the country’s cumulative capacity to 151 gigawatts (GW).
The provinces of Qinghai, Shaanxi, Henan and Hebei witnessed the largest wind energy capacity increases – the NEA said.
Wind power facilities generated a total of 68.7 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in the first quarter of 2017, 26 per cent more than the first quarter of 2016.
Due to distribution of wind resources, 13,500 GWh of wind energy was wasted in the first quarter; however, this was 5,700 GWh less than the same period last year.
The country’s power consumption increased by 6.9 per cent in the first quarter -3.7 per cent higher than the previous year – while the China’s energy intensity fell by 3.8 per cent.
Reportedly, China's total energy consumption will be capped at 5 billion tonnes of coal equivalent by 2020, according to a government plan for 2016 to 2020 – amounting to a 15 per cent reduction of energy use per unit of GDP by 2020.
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