Wind turbines in China saw their average time in operation shrink sharply in 2012, data released Monday by the country's energy watchdog showed, underlining the need to boost grid construction to absorb more wind power.
The nation's wind turbines operated for an average of 1,890 hours each in 2012, 30 hours less than the previous year, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a statement Monday.
In North China, Northeast China and Northwest China, where wind energy is abundant, wind turbines have been running below capacity, the statement said.
In eastern parts of Inner Mongolia and Northeast China's Jilin Province, 50 percent of wind turbines have not been running at full capacity in winter, it said.
