China s new wind power capacity hits record high
(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))
BEIJING 3rd February 2016 (WAM) -- China's newly installed wind power capacity reached a record high in 2015 amid increasing efforts from the government to boost clean energy.
The new wind power capacity jumped to 32.97 gigawatts last year more than 60 percent higher than 2014 the National Energy Administration NEA said in a report carried by the state-run news agency Xinhua.
Wind power generated 186.3 terawatt hours of electricity in 2015 or 3.3 percent of the country's total electric energy production data showed.
Promoting non-fossil energy including wind power China is in the middle of an energy revolution to power its economy in a cleaner and more sustainable manner. The government aims to lift the proportion of non-fossil fuels in energy consumption to 20 percent by 2030 from the present around 11 percent.
China's energy mix is currently dominated by coal.
China's electricity consumption is likely to maintain mild growth in 2016 as the economy weans off reliance on energy-intensive industries.
The China Electricity Council CEC said in a report that the increase in nationwide power use will be between 1 and 2 percent this year slightly higher than 0.5 percent registered in 2015.
The increase will be mainly attributed to robust emerging and service sectors as well as residential power consumption the report said.
China has bid farewell to the period of double-digit growth for power use as it undergoes economic transformation. The government is downsizing traditional heavy industries and encouraging high-tech new ones.
The CEC expects China to install 100 gigawatt of power capacity in 2016 with more than half comprised of non-fossil energy.
WAM/tfaham/Moran