第七届青年地学论坛

China is accelerating the development of offshore wind power to adjust electricity structure and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A comprehensive understanding of power generation and carbon mitigation potential is vital to evaluate the contribution of offshore wind power to carbon neutrality in China. Here, we estimate the power generation potential of offshore wind and the life-cycle emissions reduction by replacing coal-fired power generation with offshore wind power. Our results show that offshore wind energy resources are abundant in China; the estimated power generation potential is about 17.5 PWh, which is more than doubling the current power consumption nationwide. However, current utilization of offshore wind energy is relatively limited, with only 0.4 PWh per year of installed capacity. With planned power generation along the coastal provinces, offshore wind can supply an average of 4.7% of the electricity needs in 2050, about 11 times of that in 2019 (0.4%). With increased use of offshore wind power to replace traditional coal-fired power, the total emissions reduction would increase from 11.9 Tg CO₂-eq yr-1 in 2019 to 294.3 Tg CO₂-eq yr-1 in 2050, significantly contributing to mitigation of overall emissions along the coastal provinces (3,396 Tg CO₂-eq yr-1 in 2017). Our analysis highlights the important role of offshore wind power in upgrading energy structure and achieving regional carbon neutrality.
 

mitigation, wind power density, installed capacity, carbon neutrality, greenhouse gas emissions