London, 25 June 2011

As Beijing’s booming economy devours ever more energy resources, China is turning towards renewable energy. According to a recent forum on maritime wind power held by the National Energy Administration (NEA) in Nantong City in Jiangsu province, China's maritime wind power installed capacity will reach 5 million kilowatts by 2015, with a projected installed goal by 2020 of 30 million kilowatts, Xinhua Asia-Pacific Service news agency reported.

NEA Deputy Director Liu Qi pointed out that maritime wind power is the forefront of global wind power technology development and that China’s industrial base will allow it to both evaluate and develop offshore wind power so as to promote the country’s energy supplies and security. A public tender for the second round of offshore wind power concession projects with a total installed capacity of up to 2 gigawatts will be completed during the first half of 2012. The Chinese wind power industry has doubled its installed wind power capacity every year for the past five years.

A year ago the first stage of the East Sea Bridge Offshore Wind Farm went into operation in Shanghai. Totaling 102 megawatts, the East Sea Bridge Offshore Wind Farm is China's first large-scale offshore wind farm, comprising 34 units of 3-megawatt Sinovel turbines.

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By Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com