London 20 Sep (ANA) - China has been building two wind turbines every hour, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has told BBC News. This is the world's biggest programme of turbine installation, double that of its nearest rival, the US. The nation’s entire annual increase in energy demand has been fulfilled from the wind. But the IEA warns China has built so much coal-fired generating capacity that it is turning off wind turbines for 15% of the time. The problem is that coal-fired power stations are given priority access to the grid. An IEA spokesman told BBC News: “The rather rosy statement on wind energy hides the issue that 2015 and the first half of 2016 also saw record new installations of coal. “China has now a clear over-supply. In the province of Gansu, 39% of wind energy had to be curtailed (turned off because there is not enough capacity on the grid). The average European wind farm is forced to stop generating between 1-2% of the year. He said: “China’s position is clearly unsustainable. It will need strong policy decisions, including the construction of many more grid lines and a phase-out policy for older, more inefficient coal power plants.” State media has reported China’s plans to impose a moratorium on all new coal-fired plants until 2018. The IEA says China installed more than 30,000 MW of new wind energy in 2015 – partly thanks to a rush driven by the Chinese government making its existing subsidies less attractive. Construction has slackened in 2016, but only to a level of more than one turbine per hour. Steve Sawyer from the Global Wind Energy Council told BBC News: “China’s build up of its capacity in wind - and now solar - is truly without parallel. “It is no surprise that the Chinese grid’s capability to integrate this variable renewable energy has not progressed at the same rate, but to change this situation China needs to rapidly progress with electricity market reform.” (ANA)

FA/ANA/20 September 2016-----