China added almost 72GW of new wind power in 2020, according to official figures that reflected a frenzy of developer activity to beat the deadline for onshore wind subsidy cut-off, and which could make last year a record one for global wind growth.

The 71.7GW figure reported by the country’s National Energy Administration is three times the NEA’s tally for last year, and took annual additions to levels variously described by commentators as "staggering" and "mind-boggling" even by the standards of the world’s largest renewable energy market.

China’s wind power developers spent last year racing to beat a December 31 expiry for onshore renewable support, and analysts said a huge quantity of the figure appears to relate to the final month of the year.

Some also said it is unclear whether the total, which would mostly cover onshore installations, reflects leniency to projects by the Beijing authorities to reflect difficulties caused by the Covid pandemic in early 2020.

The figure, which covers grid-connections, could be skewed by 26.3GW installed but not connected by the end of 2019, which then found its way into the final 2020 tally, said Feng Zhao, strategy director at the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

GWEC said the net figure of 45.4 GW in 2020 is "still a monumental achievement – nearly equivalent to the entire global capacity installed in 2018 – and would still be a record year for the Chinese wind market".

The body said "the surge in installations exceeds GWEC’s Q3 2020 forecast for China by 11GW, and makes 2020 a record year of wind growth with an estimated 82.3GW of new wind power capacity globally, according to initial calculations, which represents a 36% year-on-year increase in installations".

This year should see a similar level of installations, added GWEC.

Solar capacity additions were put at 48.2GW by the NEA, the highest level for three years.

China push to net zero

China is pursuing a goal to have more than 1,200GW of wind and solar in place by 2030 as part of President Xi Jinping’s goal to become carbon-neutral by 2060.

The Chinese wind industry expects to need to add more than 50GW of new wind power annually from 2021-2025, and more than 60GW a year from 2026 onwards, as its part in that push.

Qin Haiyan, secretary general at the China Wind Energy Association, said: “Although the Covid-19 pandemic impacted China’s wind industry early on in 2020, the Chinese government took prompt and strong measures to effectively contain the virus.

“This allowed the sector to resume ‘business as usual’ manufacturing and installation activities as early as March 2020, which was crucial for the sector to complete projects with the looming subsidy deadline.

“In order to help smooth the way forward and play their part in helping to achieve China’s net zero target, grid companies also took various measures to overcome bottlenecks and connect as many projects as possible before the end of 2020.”

Note: Update adds further comment

Wind

Mind-boggling: China says 72GW of wind added in 2020 as projects race subsidy axe