The construction of China's first-ever extensive offshore wind farm using 16-megawatt turbines has begun. Wind turbines with a single capacity of 10 megawatts are usually used by the country, which will change the game once the construction concludes.
(Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
CUXHAVEN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 05: Parts for offshore wind turbines, including blades and hubs, lie in port on February 05, 2023 in Cuxhaven, Germany. Cuxhaven is home to production facilities for offshore wind turbine parts of both Titan Wind Energy Germany GmbH and Siemens Gamesa. Germany is expanding its offshore wind power capacity in the North Sea.
CUXHAVEN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 05: Parts for offshore wind turbines, including blades and hubs, lie in port on February 05, 2023 in Cuxhaven, Germany. Cuxhaven is home to production facilities for offshore wind turbine parts of both Titan Wind Energy Germany GmbH and Siemens Gamesa. Germany is expanding its offshore wind power capacity in the North Sea.
Offshore Wind Farm with 16-Megawatt Turbines
China Three Gorges and Goldwind Science and Technology are working together for China's newest and first-ever offshore wind farm, powered by 16-megawatt turbines. China Global Television Network reported that this is anticipated to begin supplying power around August this year.
As per Zhangpu Haixia Deputy General Gong Kuangmin, "The larger the capacity of a turbine, the higher the power generation efficiency and the lower cost in development and operation will be." Zhangpu is affiliated with the state-owned power company China Three Gorges Corporation.
The wind farm will be located on the shore 32.8 kilometers off Zhangpu County, Zhangzhou City in Fujian Province of China. The facility will generate over 1.6 billion kilowatts of electricity every year after completion through its total installed capacity of 400 megawatts.
This will save them 500,000 tonnes of standard coal as they reduce 1.36 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Gong also added that the company will fuse the wind farm with marine ranching, offshore hydrogen production, and photovoltaics development as a promotion for marine energy.
During its announcement last December 2022, CTG Chairman Leig Mingshan stated that this marks a historical milestone in developing global offshore wind power equipment, which is a sign of progress for China's efforts. The authorities of the country called out the government for independent growth of cutting-edge technology, in grade with international standards.
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China's Efforts
China has been very clear about its aspiration to become the world's leader in the renewable energy market. This project has advanced their chances to become one as they produce the country's first extensive offshore wind farm.
Based on a report from Interesting Engineering, the demand for advanced energy storage is predicted to increase by 50% to 30 gigawatt-hours this year, which will push the overall demand to 100GWh. In 2022, a total of 446 wind power projects concluded that totaling 87 GW of capacity. This is an improvement from the roughly 60 GW in 2021.
Last month, a division of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation introduced the components of 18 megawatts turbines for an offshore wind farm. This steals the title of the 16-MW model as the world's largest offshore wind turbine.
CSSC Haizhuang stated that the new 260-meter-diameter rotor of the model will operate a permanent magnet generator with a modularized medium-speed drive train.
The company stated, "This will make a great contribution to the improvement of turbine capacity and efficiency, as well as reducing the levelized cost of energy of offshore wind farms, and has market prospects in the high-speed wind and deep-sea areas."
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