China may accelerate the development of offshore wind energy projects, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner.
The NDRC has recently issued the revised edition of “Catalogue for the Guidance of Industrial Structure Adjustment”, where new policies for offshore wind energy industry were added to support the development of offshore wind generator technology and equipment manufacture, as well as the construction of offshore wind farms and equipment manufacture.
China’s southeastern coastal areas, where offshore wind farms could be well located and utilized, may see tightening power supply ease in the future. In addition, compared with onshore wind farms, offshore facilities are more competitive in terms of wind resources, land and ecology.
At present, China has two operational wind farms including the 102 MW Donghai Daqiao offshore wind project in Shanghai and the 150 MW Rudong offshore wind project in Jiangsu.
China's offshore wind power generation capacity is targeted to reach 5 GW by 2015 and 30 GW by 2020, according to the development plan on wind power during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015).
