The city of Chaozhou in China's Guangdong province is about to build an offshore wind farm so large that it could generate more energy than all of Norway's power plants.
The city plans to begin construction on its 43,3 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind farm by 2025, as briefly outlined in the city's five-year plan. published online. At the moment no details have been revealed on the expected final cost for this project.
The offshore wind farm will be located between 47 and 115 miles (75 and 185 km) off the coast of Chaozhou, located on the Taiwan Strait.
An area with unique characteristics for a wind farm
I read Bloomberg: “The area has unique topographic characteristics for a wind farm: the wind will be strong enough to operate the turbines 3.800 to 4.300 hours per year, or 43% to 49% of the time, an unusually high utilization rate” .
China is making incredible progress in the field ofwind power offshore. In fact, the “Celestial Empire” connected more offshore wind generation capacity during the past year, 2021 (17 GW) than any other country in the world in the past five years.
Yet, apart from the wind, it goes slowly
Excluding the exploit of offshore wind, however, slow emission abatement programs are expected in China. The goal, to say, is dictated by 2060. In his opening speech at the National Congress of the Communist Party of China (an event of which our media inexplicably speak little, given China's strategic importance), President Xi Jinping used unequivocal words.
We will work actively and prudently towards the goal of achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. Based on China's energy and resource endowments, we will advance initiatives to reach peak carbon emissions in a well-planned and gradual manner. In line with the principle of getting the new before discarding the old.
In other words, despite the wind in its sails, China is still slow on the environmental issue.
