China added just under 72GW of wind power capacity in 2020, nearly tripling the amount of capacity added in 2019, according to data from the National Energy Administration (NEA).
The reported surge in new installations, totalling 71.67GW, which includes both onshore and offshore, “surprised many” in the industry and could have been inflated by projects completed in 2019 but not connected to the grid until 2020, one analyst said.
The increase may also partly reflect a rush to connect onshore projects to qualify for feed-in tariffs ending on 30 December.
Installed capacity of solar power rose by 48.2GW, returning that sector to growth after a loss of momentum during the previous two years.
Hydropower was up by 13.23GW.
China’s total electricity consumption in 2020 grew by 3.1%, the NEA said.