China likely to lead world in wind power by year-end: Report

BEIJING - China is likely to surpass the United States as the leader in cumulative wind power capacity by the end of this year, a Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) official said on Tuesday.

"Wind power technology provides governments with a viable option for truly tackling the challenges of our time and for being part of the energy revolution our planet needs," GWEC Secretary-General Steve Sawyer told a news conference. He added that political commitment is needed to make this happen.

An earlier GWEC report showed global wind power capacity grew 31 percent, a 37.5-gigawatt (gW) increase to 157.9 gW in 2009. A third of the increase came from China, which doubled its capacity from 12.1 gW to 25.1 gW. The US contributed nearly 10 gW of new capacity in 2009, reaching 35 gW.