China's windmills do spin: Scale, innovation and global impact

Wind power has become a central pillar of China's energy transition. Over the past decade, China has built the world's largest wind power system, expanded its use across diverse regions and environments, and helped drive down the global cost of renewable energy. Today, wind energy plays a growing role in China's electricity supply and in global efforts to shift toward cleaner power.

China leads the world in wind power deployment

From January to November 2025, China's total installed wind power capacity reached around 600 gigawatts, the highest in the world. China has maintained the global lead in wind power installation for 15 consecutive years, accounting for a substantial share of total worldwide capacity.

Wind power is not only widely installed but also heavily used. In the first eleven months of 2025, China's wind farms generated nearly 950 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, with average utilisation rates exceeding 94 percent. This reflects strong grid integration and improving efficiency in wind power operations.

A major milestone was reached in 2025, when China's combined installed capacity of wind and solar power surpassed that of coal-fired power for the first time, marking a historic shift in the country's energy structure and signalling accelerated progress toward cleaner electricity.

Wind farms across China: on land and at sea

China's wind resources are developed according to regional conditions.

In northern and western regions – such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Gansu – large-scale wind power bases take advantage of strong and stable wind resources. These areas serve as major clean energy supply hubs, with electricity transmitted to other parts of the country through long-distance power lines.

In central and eastern China, where land availability is more limited and electricity demand is high, distributed wind projects are expanding rapidly. Provinces such as Henan, Hebei and Shandong are integrating wind power directly into local grids, supporting nearby cities and industries.

China is also a global leader in offshore wind power development. Coastal provinces such as Jiangsu, Guangdong and Shandong have built large offshore wind farms. Jiangsu alone has more than 12 gigawatts of offshore wind connected to the grid. Some projects are located more than 80 kilometers offshore, among the farthest offshore wind developments currently in operation worldwide.

Wind power in extreme and innovative environments

China has expanded wind power beyond conventional settings, deploying projects in deserts, high-altitude plateaus and deep offshore waters.

In southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, a wind power project was connected to the grid at an altitude of over 5,000 meters, the highest such installation in the world. In desert areas, wind power is often combined with solar generation and energy storage, forming integrated clean energy bases that improve supply stability.

China is also breaking new ground in high-altitude and airborne wind energy. On January 5, the world's first megawatt-class S2000 floating airborne wind energy system designed for urban environments was successfully launched in Yibin, Sichuan Province. The system ascended to an altitude of 2,000 meters, achieved stable hovering, generated a total of 385 kilowatt-hours of electricity, and completed grid-connected power generation tests.

This breakthrough marks the first time that airborne wind power has entered an urban application scenario, hailed as a shift in high-altitude wind energy development from remote areas toward city spaces. It also marks the official beginning of large-scale industrialization for airborne wind power technology.

Supporting economic development and rural revitalization

Wind power development in China contributes not only to emissions reduction but also to economic and social development.

Many wind projects are combined with energy storage, hydrogen production and ecological restoration. In arid regions, wind farms support desertification control efforts, while in rural areas they provide new sources of income, employment opportunities and infrastructure investment.

These projects help local economies diversify while aligning development goals with environmental protection.

China's contribution to global wind and renewable energy

China's wind power industry is deeply integrated into global supply chains. Chinese manufacturers supply over half of the world's wind turbines, while key components such as blades and gearboxes account for a large share of the global market.

By building the world's largest and most complete new energy industrial chain, China has played a major role in reducing the cost of wind power worldwide. Over the past decade, global wind power costs have fallen by more than 60 percent, making clean energy more accessible to a wider range of countries.

China has also carried out green energy cooperation projects in more than 100 countries and regions, supporting renewable energy development and local capacity building, particularly in developing economies.

Climate commitments backed by action

In 2025, marking ten years since the Paris Agreement, China announced updated climate targets covering all economic sectors and all greenhouse gases, including its first-ever absolute emissions reduction goal for 2035. Several earlier renewable energy targets, including wind and solar installation goals, were achieved ahead of schedule.

Wind power plays a key role in meeting these commitments through large-scale, reliable and continuously expanding infrastructure. China's wind power development is shifting from rapid expansion toward higher quality and greater efficiency, with growing emphasis on grid integration, energy storage, digital management, and offshore and deep-sea projects.

As these efforts continue, wind energy will remain a cornerstone of China's energy system and an important contributor to the global transition toward cleaner, more sustainable power.