BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- China led the world in new annual offshore wind installations for the third straight year with over 3 gigawatts of new offshore wind capacity in 2020, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
"Although China was hit first by the COVID-19 crisis, the impact on the offshore wind sector was minimal, resuming 'business as usual' as early as March 2020," said Feng Zhao, head of market intelligence and strategy at the council.
China's record-breaking growth is expected to continue in 2021, driven by an offshore wind installation rush, he said.
While the United Kingdom remains in the top spot globally for total offshore wind capacity, China has overtaken Germany to become the world's second-largest offshore wind market, the council said.
Currently, the total global offshore wind capacity is over 35 gigawatts, helping the world avoid 62.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions -- equivalent to taking over 20 million cars off the road, according to the council. Enditem