China continues to expand its offshore wind power capacity, backed by Beijing’s renewable energy push and low prices for homegrown turbines, even as some countries scale down installation plans amid inflation.
China already accounts for 50% of existing offshore wind power capacity and is set to claim 54% of new installations through 2030.
Dongfang Electric installed a 26-megawatt wind turbine—billed as the world’s largest and most powerful—at a test facility in Shandong this August. Designed and built in China, the turbine stands 300 meters tall, including the blades. The plan is to sell it for offshore use after verifying generation efficiency and durability.
“One turbine can generate 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to meet the demand of approximately 55,000 households,” a Dongfang Electric representative said.
Other Chinese manufacturers such as Goldwind and Shanghai Electric also plan to develop 20 MW turbines as the country starts overtaking Western manufacturers that had held a technological lead.
The robust growth of the nation’s offshore wind power market enables Chinese manufacturers to continue investing heavily in R&D.
China is expected to account for a total of 72 gigawatts, or 54%, of the offshore wind power capacity to be installed globally from 2025 through 2030, shows data compiled by Nikkei based on forecasts from US research firm BloombergNEF. This is nearly quintuple the 15 GW of the UK, which is in second place.
China already hosts 50% of the cumulative installed offshore wind power capacity, followed by the UK at 19% and Germany at 11%, according to data compiled by the Global Wind Energy Council.
While the US and Germany are expected to see a decline in market share through 2030 due to inflation and interest rate hikes leading to companies withdrawing from the business, as well as unsuccessful bids, Chinese manufacturers are projected to maintain a majority share.
President Xi Jinping, who in 2020 set a goal of having China’s carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2030, is working to foster the renewable energy industry. Renewable energy expanded rapidly in the country thanks to a feed-in tariff system that lasted until 2021, where provincial governments designated offshore wind power development areas and allowed operators to develop them, purchasing the generated electricity at high prices.
The government also introduced a renewable portfolio standard system in 2020, mandating that companies in industries such as steel and cement purchase a certain amount of renewable energy from power generation companies. Although the required ratio of renewable energy for these companies, many of them state-owned, is getting stricter every year, most are meeting the targets.
Suitable Chinese locations for solar and onshore wind power generation are largely in such inland areas as Inner Mongolia, while major electricity-consuming areas are along the coast. For companies in coastal areas, offshore wind farms are a critical source of power.
“Although the cost of offshore wind power generation is still higher compared with other renewable energy sources, power purchase agreements are being signed, mainly in the south, where cloud computing and artificial intelligence industries are concentrated,” said Go Nakanishi, CEO of Chinese energy research company Integral.
In line with market growth, China’s wind turbine manufacturers have boosted production and scaled up their turbines, reducing costs. Through making each turbine larger, the number of turbines installed at a wind farm can be reduced, and construction and maintenance costs lowered.
But giant wind turbines require building testing equipment for such key components as blades and nacelles from scratch, resulting in significant investment costs.
Prices of Chinese-made wind turbines fell 60% or so in the five years through the first half of 2025, while power generation costs continue to decline, according to BloombergNEF. Meanwhile, the global average has risen 40% or so because of inflation. In China, the impact of rising materials costs is mitigated by the deflationary economy.
Chinese manufacturers dominate the top four spots in global turbine market share and are starting to look toward overseas markets, where competition is less intense. Goldwind, the world leader, has begun operations at a plant in Brazil to expand into South America, while second-ranked Envision has decided to build a third Indian factory.
Western countries are increasingly wary of the influx of Chinese turbines. The European Union has launched an investigation into companies that allegedly received Chinese subsidies, distorting competition. US President Donald Trump’s administration announced in August that it had begun an investigation into possibly imposing additional tariffs on wind turbines, with an eye on Chinese companies.
But some European power generation companies said they have no choice but to use inexpensive Chinese-made turbines to ensure profitability.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.