A SURGE in wind generation in China helped reduce coal burning at the start of the year.

Wind turbines produced 134 billion kilowatt-hours of power in January and February, a 30% jump from the previous year.

Along with rising solar output, new renewable generation was able to more than meet the 2.3% increase in power demand over the two months.

That allowed thermal power plant operators in the country to ramp down operations, reducing emissions.

The increase in wind generation came after China added more than 50 gigawatts of new capacity in each of the last three years as the country drives toward peak emissions by 2030. It also benefited from strong winds in January, according to Citigroup Inc. analysts.

Still, thermal power, the vast majority of which comes from coal, made up 72% of total generation in the winter months.

But coal costs money to burn, whereas wind and sunlight are free. Once turbines and panels are installed, they’re the first option for generators, which means that’s coal relevance will slowly fade to backstopping intermittent renewables output.

That makes the carbon math for China’s power sector very simple — if new renewables generation is greater than increases in consumption, greenhouse gas emissions go down.

It remains to be seen whether the January-February trend will hold — weather is fickle, and power consumption will surely rise at a faster clip the further China’s economy has recovered. (SD-Agencies)