Topic: wind

Shifting to a low-carbon economy will require current emitting countries and projected future emitters to rapidly scale up their investments in renewable energy. By some estimates, China is already the leading global investor in renewable energy infrastructure, and is increasing its overseas investments in renewable energy, particularly solar and wind. This working paper aims to help policymakers, investors, and researchers better understand the trends in China’s overseas investments in the wind and solar industries, as well as the factors behind those trends.

The story of the Chinese wind power industry is remarkable. From a small number of demonstration projects at the beginning of the century, the Chinese wind power market has grown to become the world’s largest. At the end of 2010, it overtook the United States to become the leader in terms of cumulative installed capacity. Even though China used to import 80% of its wind energy equipment, domestic manufacturing has exploded since 2006 and now supplies more than 70% of the domestic market. In 2010, China’s wind power market attracted investments of RMB 89 billion (US$14 billion) and employed over 150,000 people.

This brief describes a number of policy tools that can be employed to drive investment in renewable energy technologies and discusses which policy options may be the best fit based on the commercial maturity of a targeted technology.

This working paper identifies key components of smart renewable energy policy in developing countries, focusing on the power sector. It also provides recommendations for maximizing the effectiveness of international support for deployment of renewable energies, drawn from these on-the-ground experiences in developing countries.

This report examines electricity transmission developments and challenges for renewable energy in the European Union (EU), China, and the United States.