The New York Times’ Green blog reports that China now constitutes the world’ largest wind energy market:
In 2010 China installed about 16,000 megawatts, versus 5,000 in the United States; in 2009 it installed 13,000 megawatts versus 10,000 in the United States, according to American Superconductor.
The wind picture is part of a trend; China is also adding coal-fired power plants and nuclear plants very rapidly to meet a sharply increasing demand for electricity. The United States, with a more mature economy, a recession and growing energy efficiency, is thought to have seen modest growth in electricity demand last year by comparison with 2009, but remains significantly below its peak electric demand because of the recession.
American Superconductor, which is based in Devens, Mass., also announced on Tuesday that it had licensed some of its proprietary designs to a sixth Chinese company, the Jingcheng New Energy Company. Jincheng has been producing wind turbines since 2006, it said, and can now produce 2,000 megawatts per year.
