Experts say govt backing will brighten green power sector

Thanks to improved technology and cost reductions, China's offshore wind power sector has been growing rapidly over the past few years, and government policy support will further accelerate its development, insiders said.

The National Development and Reform Commission in June encouraged local governments to roll out policies to support the sustainable and healthy development of offshore wind energy industries.

Starting Aug 1, electricity prices for newly approved offshore wind power projects, which still see higher generation costs, will be decided by pricing authorities of provincial-level regions where the facilities are located, it said.

This comes as subsidies for offshore wind projects are to be scrapped by the end of 2021.

With the central government delegating power to local governments, economically developed provinces－many of which are coastal provinces with better offshore wind resources－will surely support offshore wind projects, said Wang Ziyue, an analyst at research firm BloombergNEF.

With wind power now accounting for a significant share of the country's renewable energy capacity, it is expected that wind power will play a more substantial role in improving the proportion of renewables in China's energy consumption mix amid ambitious emissions reduction goals in the following decades, Wang said.

Qin Haiyan, secretary-general of the Chinese Wind Energy Association, said support from local governments plays a key role in the country's offshore wind development, as well as in achieving grid parity for the sector before 2025.

A record surge in new installations last year, despite the impact of COVID-19, demonstrated the resilience of the country's wind power sector amid the pandemic, Qin said.

United Kingdom-based consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimated that more than 2,000 gigawatts of new wind capacity is needed from last year to 2060 to support China's carbon-neutral target. It expects 408 GW of new capacity to be added from this year to 2030, including 73 GW of offshore wind capacity.

China's attempt to achieve its 25 percent non-fossil fuel energy consumption target by 2030 will also fuel wind capacity growth in the next decade, it said.