Challenges faced by China compared with the US in developing wind power

In the 21st Conference of the Parties held in Paris in December 2015, China pledged to peak its carbon emissions and increase non-fossil energy to 20% by 2030 or earlier. Expanding renewable capacity, especially wind power, is a central strategy to achieve these climate goals. Despite greater capacity for wind installation in China compared to the US (145.1 versus 75.0 GW), less wind electricity is generated in China (186.3 versus 190.9 TWh). Here, we quantify the relative importance of the key factors accounting for the unsatisfactory performance of Chinese wind farms. Different from the results in earlier qualitative studies, we find that the difference in wind resources explains only a small fraction of the present China−US difference in wind power output (−17.9% in 2012); the curtailment of wind power, differences in turbine quality, and delayed connection to the grid are identified as the three primary factors (respectively −49.3%, −50.2%, and −50.3% in 2012). Improvements in both technology choices and the policy environment are critical in addressing these challenges. Several factors, such as wind power curtailment and quality of turbines, cause a reduced capacity of wind energy production in China compared with the US. The authors quantify the relative weight that these factors have in limiting the wind power output in China, and provide policy recommendations.