China installs 20MW offshore wind turbine

The giant turbine, which has a nacelle at a height of 174 metres and blades each 147 metres in length, has been installed 30 kilometres south of Fujian Province, on the south coast.

Jointly designed, built and deployed by the China Three Gorges Corporation and Goldwind Science & Technology, the turbine is actually fairly lightweight, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), which put out he information.

The weight per megawatt of the complete unit, it says, including nacelle, wheel hub and blades, is less than 40 tonnes, which the SASAC claims is 20% less than the industrial average, reducing installation difficulties and costs.

The SASAC also says laser radar and blade-root sensors have been installed to create a multi-dimensional perception and safety warning system to ensure safe and autonomous operation when unattended.

It also uses independently developed airfoil blades that improve wind capture and power generation efficiency. 

“This will further consolidate China’s globally leading position in the R&D, manufacturing, and application of large-capacity offshore wind turbines,” said Jiang Guangqiu, deputy general manager of the China Three Gorges Corporation’s Fujian branch and director of Fujian Province’s engineering research centre of offshore wind power development and utilization.

“This achievement marks another leap forward in China’s major offshore wind power equipment, following the deployment of the world’s first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine in the waters near Pingtan County, Fujian Province in 2023,” says the SASAC. “Once operational, the new unit will further improve the offshore wind farm’s cost efficiency and maritime space utilization, achieving ‘higher power generation per unit with lower cost per unit’, accelerating the large-scale development of China’s offshore wind power sector.”

The single turbine is expected to generate more than 80 million kW a year, powering 44,000 households.

“Furthermore, as a new test platform for ultra-large-capacity offshore wind turbines, the 20-megawatt offshore wind turbine will provide valuable data and practical experience for the design, manufacturing, construction, and standard-setting of even larger-capacity units in the future,” says the SASAC.to

China says it has 2,780 gigawatts of ‘technically exploitable’ offshore wind potential, and that despite recent comments claiming the contrary by American president Donald Trump, ‘vigorously developing offshore wind power is of great significance for ensuring China’s energy security’.

This is an astonishing figure, given that total operational offshore wind globally stands at just 3% of that, according to RenewableUK, at 85.2GW.

China currently has 42.9GW and the UK 15.6GW, with Germany in third with 9GW and the Netherlands fourth with 5.4GW.