China’s installed capacity for wind power connected to the grid reached 80.55 GW by the end of March, jumping 4.56 GW or 24% year on year, according to data released by the National Energy Administration (NEA) on April 30.

For the January-March period, China’s on-grid wind power reached 36.6 TWh, increasing 9% year on year; utilization hours reached 479 hours, down 55 hours from last year; total abandoned wind power dropped 2 TWh to 4.8 TWh year on year; the average abandon rate also decreased 5.4 percentage points to 11.7% from previous year, the data showed.

In the first quarter, Xinjiang accounted for the largest share of increase in on-grid installed capacity, gaining additional capacity of 1.39 GW; followed by Shandong (0.5 GW) and Shanxi (0.44 GW).

For average utilization hours, Yunnan, Fujian, and Sichuan ranked top three among all provinces, achieving 1,007, 800, and 717 hours respectively. In contrast, Jilin, Liaoning, and Qinghai lagged behind, posting 270, 359, and 376 hours correspondingly, the NEA said.

As a whole, the average wind power utilization hours for the quarter has gone down, mainly due to less windy weather in most parts of China this year, it added.