China’s offshore wind farms are coming online quickly, resulting in an increase in capacity that has brought China’s cumulative installed wind capacity to over 300 GW. The latest data from Windpower Intelligence (WPI), the data and research division of Windpower Monthly, shows that the total installed in the country is now 302.2 GW.

This week, local news reports in China also reported that the country has exceeded 300 GW installed, citing statistics from China’s National Energy Administration.

Among the WPI projects registered in November as newly released, eight of the world’s 11 largest were in Chinese waters. China’s eight offshore wind farms saw a combined capacity of 2.7 GW added to the country’s total capacity, confirming industry predictions that Chinese developers would rush to commission projects before feed-in tariffs. will not be phased out at the end of 2021.

In the Renewable 2021 report released yesterday (December 1) by the International Energy Agency (IEA), China is expected to meet its target of 1,200 GW by 2030 for combined wind and solar capacity with four years of advance. The IEA says this is due to “the availability of long-term contracts, better grid integration and the cost competitiveness of onshore wind and solar PV versus coal production in many provinces.”

WPI’s global forecast projects China’s installed wind capacity to reach 485 GW by 2027, divided into 446.7 GW onshore and 38.5 GW offshore.

Globally, the IEA expects 88.9 GW of wind capacity to be added over the period 2021-26 in the main scenario – or 112 GW in the accelerated scenario.

Offshore wind is expected to add 21 GW over the same period, he said, thanks to rapid expansion into new markets such as the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan. – alongside current leaders, Europe and China.