China connecting more wind farms to grid

The number of China's idled wind farms are being cut down.

Its connection to China's grid is now addressing a roadblock in the development of the country's wind power.

The adoption of wind power in China has been damped by the electricity grid’s ability to handle the influx of energy, forcing the government to impose stricter approvals on new projects.

“The issue is in the process of improvement, given the efforts made by grid companies,” Jiang Liping, vice president of the State Grid Energy Research Institute, said in a phone interview on Jan. 10, without disclosing the connection rate.

The rate of wind capacity sitting idle could fall to as low as 10 percent this year, compared with 25 percent at the end of 2011, according Jun Ying, Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s head of research in China.

China probably added 16.4 gigawatts of wind power last year, 20 percent less than the previous year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. This year, wind installations may grow by 16.3 gigawatts, NEF forecasts. That compares with China’s goal of adding 18 gigawatts of wind generation and 10 gigawatts of solar in 2013, according to the NEA’s Jan. 8 statement.

The wind-power target is larger than Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s forecast because the projects referred to by the government aren’t necessarily built and connected in the same year, Ying said.

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