China is leading the way in renewable energy growth

Renewables’ relentless march on grid power is just getting started and there will be no stopping it

Almost one year ago, I wrote that most of the growth in renewable energy will happen in China, Latin America, the Middle East, and parts of the world that still lack access to reliable electricity, like India and Africa. We now have some evidence of just how stunning that growth will be. In 2014, according to government statistics, China added about 18.7 gigawatts (GW) of new wind capacity – more than twice as much as the next five nations combined, and about 42% of wind additions globally. The Asian nation is the world leader in grid-connected capacity, with 95.8 GW, or about 30% of the global total in 2013. (The US generates more power from wind than China does, but that may be a short-liv