
China continues to have the highest wind power capacity in the world, although the pace of growth slowed in 2017. 19,659 MW of new wind power capacity was installed, representing a 15.9% decrease in growth from last year. Accumulated capacity increased to 188,390 MW.
Grid-connected capacity increased to 164,000 MW with the addition of 15,030 MW installed in 2017. New wind power capacity accounted for 9.2% of installed power capacity nationwide. New installations in the mid-eastern and southern regions account for 50% of the total new installation capacity.
Wind power remains the third largest generation source in China, following thermal and hydro-electricity sources. The average full-load-hour of wind power was 1,948 hours in 2017, an increase of 203 hours from 2016. Wind-generated electricity totaled 305.7 TWh, increase 26.3% over the previous year. Wind-generated electricity accounted for 4.8% of the total electricity generation, an increase of 0.7% over 2016. The average wind curtailment rate was 12%, a decline of 3% compared to 2016.
To read more about China's wind energy sector, read CWEA's chapter in the
IEA Wind TCP Annual Report.