User:Joeldebo/Wind power in the People's Republic of China
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Wind power in the People's Republic of China has been an important sector of renewable energy growth in China that has increased dramatically in recent years. Chinese wind energy capacity has increased from only 1,260 MW in 2005 to 62,000 MW by the end of 2011, [1] an increase of 5,000% in just 6 years. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, this growth is unparalleled in the world. This growth has largely been driven by the high wind energy potential in China [2] and national government policies encouraging the growth of this sector.[3] The potential for wind farms is so large in China due to its long coastline and large land mass, both providing ample space for expansive wind farms.[4] Realizing this, the National People's Congress permanent committee passed a law that requires Chinese energy companies to purchase all the electricity produced by the renewable energy sector to facilitate growth.[5]
In 2010, China became the world leader in installed wind power capacity.[1] The growth of the wind energy sector is expected to continue to grow at a rapidly increasing pace. In China's 12th Five-year Plan, targets were placed for a capacity of 90 GW by 2015 and 200 GW by 2020, more than twice the capacity than the entire world's current capacity .[1] Most of the growth is expected to be in the northern and eastern regions of China,[2] although Offshore wind development is expected to play an increasingly important role as China is expected to have an offshore capacity of 30 GW by 2020.[1]