According to GlobalData’s analyst covering power issues, Pranav Srivastava, China currently has the world’s largest wind power installed capacity, with plans to grow further and surpass US wind power generation by 2016. The country generated around 169 TWh of electricity in 2014, compared to just over 175 TWh generated by the US.
“For a fairer assessment, we can use installed capacity to estimate the extensiveness of wind power development in a country” said Mr Srivastava. “China’s cumulative wind power installed capacity increased from 402 MW in 2001 to 110 GW in 2014, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 50.5 percent. In terms of cumulative installed capacity in 2014, China is clearly ahead, as US capacity currently stands at approximately 66 GW.”
During his State of the Union Address in January 2015, US President Barack Obama spoke of the country’s achievements in the energy sector and claimed that the domestic wind industry is number one in the world.
However, in terms of annual installations, the Chinese wind industry has proven to be more stable than the US, as the latter's annual installations rely heavily upon government incentives, which are often under speculation.
In 2013, the US wind industry witnessed a 92 percent drop in annual installed capacity and around 30,000 job losses due to the expiration of the Production Tax Credit. Although this incentive, which was renewed early in December 2014, sought to benefit wind power generators, it did not have any worthwhile positive impact on the industry in practicality, as it gave investors very little time to meet its eligibility requirements. As such, the US wind sector may not be in as healthy a condition as President Obama recently claimed.
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