Asia leading the way in wind energy

Rising and unsteady prices of non-renewable energy sources, awareness of climate change and increasing energy demand. Stefan Gsänger, Secretary General of the World Wind Energy Association, says these are reasons more and more people are turning to wind energy to produce electricity. And there has been much progress in Asia.

"Asia has become the most dynamic world in terms of wind energy investment in the last year. We can see that Asia accounts now for more than 40 percent of the newly installed wind turbines. Of course the leading country is China, which installed almost 14,000 megawatt of wind turbines last year and for four consecutive years they have more than doubled their wind capacity."

China ranks no. 2 in wind energy

In 2009, China overtook Germany by about 200 MW in wind capacity, making it number two world-wide, right behind the United States. Gsänger adds, "that is indeed a great success and of course now within a couple of years, China has been number five a few years ago, now they are number two in terms of total installed capacity."

Gsänger says a few years ago, China's official target for 2020 was 20 GW. That capacity was already reached by 2009. Now China is aiming to generate 100 GW of wind power by the year 2020.

Wind energy is not new to Asia. India is considered a pioneer in wind energy, and is home to one of the world's largest turbine manufacturers, Suzlon. But in terms of energy output, China has now become the Asian prototype, inspiring others to jump on the wind-powered bandwagon. As Gsänger points out, "we have first windfarms in Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines and many other countries. And what is also very important of course is that industrial capacities are starting there as well. So China has a strong manufacturing basis, India has one as well."

Depending on the technical conditions of the country, the potential share of wind power-generated electricity could be around 30 to 50 percent, combining wind with other renewable energy sources like hydropower, solar power and biogas.

China tapping into turbine market

The increase of wind farms in China also means a proliferation of Chinese production facilities. Zhiyan Song, PR and Marketing Officer at World Wind Energy Association, says there are already around 80 wind turbine manufacturers in China.

Furthermore, "right now most of the wind turbine manufactures in China provide their production to wind farmers in China. But since last year, large turbine manufactures have kicked off their export action. And because it is Chinese production, they have good quality, but at a very nice price compared with European production."

The World Wind Energy Association says today, wind energy is the least expensive way of producing electricity. That's one reason demand is growing. And now that China is tapping into the market, it is a matter of time before "made in China" is illuminating every household.

Author: Sarah Berning
Editor: Grahame Lucas