A carbon free future may not be as straightforward as having access to cheap, readily available sources of green energy. Since China took over the top spot from the UK in total offshore wind installations in 2021, China’s share of global wind capacity has grown rapidly to two-thirds last year.
There are now four Chinese wind turbine equipment makers in the global top five rankings — combined with well over 80 per cent market share for Chinese companies in solar manufacturing capacity. Yet there is a question mark over these companies’ future growth.
As China’s output has expanded, the price of wind turbines produced has fallen steadily. The installed wind turbine cost in China has hit a record low price, almost halving since last year.