Potential for Wind-Generated Electricity in China
Michael B. McElroy,1,*,
Xi Lu,2,*
Chris P. Nielsen,3
Yuxuan Wang4
Wind offers an important alternative to coal as a source of
energy for generation of electricity in China with the potential
for substantial savings in carbon dioxide emissions. Wind fields
derived from assimilated meteorological data are used to assess
the potential for wind-generated electricity in China subject
to the existing government-approved bidding process for new
wind farms. Assuming a guaranteed price of 0.516 RMB (7.6 U.S.
cents) per kilowatt-hour for delivery of electricity to the
grid over an agreed initial average period of 10 years, it is
concluded that wind could accommodate all of the demand for
electricity projected for 2030, about twice current consumption.
Electricity available at a concession price as low as 0.4 RMB
per kilowatt-hour would be sufficient to displace 23% of electricity
generated from coal.
2 School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
3 Harvard China Project and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
4 Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mbm{at}seas.harvard.edu
