News recently surfaced that Uruguay is planning to become the world leader in wind energy generation by erecting enough turbines to produce 30 percent of its total energy consumption, China has announced that it is now the world leader in wind and hydroelectric power according to its total installed capacity. China Electricity Council has just made an announcement that the country’s installed capacities for wind and hydro power have grown to become the world’s largest.
The last six years have been pretty significant considering China’s take on renewable energy. During this period the wind power generating capacity in the country increased from just 2000MW to 52,580MW allowing China to produce 70.6 terrawatt hours of electricity from wind. The future seems just as green with the government announcing projects to increase that capacity to 100,000MW in 2015 and 200,000MW in 2020.
Along with an increase in the installed wind power capacity, the country has also become the world’s largest producer of hydroelectric power. While the country’s hydro power projects, such as the Three Gorges Dam, aren’t exactly being appreciated by environmentalists over the world, they are definitely helping China reduce its dependence on coal power and the need to import energy sources.