China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) has started construction of its offshore wind farm Zhangpu Liuao. The wind farm will use China’s 16-megawatt offshore wind turbines. The project will be both China’s and the world’s first wind farm to comprise 16 MW wind turbines.
“Currently, wind turbines with a single capacity of less than 10 MW are usually used in the country’s offshore wind farms,” said Gong Kuangmin, deputy general manager of the Zhangpu Haixia Co., LTD.
In comparison, this unique turbine boasts the world’s largest single-unit capacity and biggest impeller, marking a breakthrough in high-end research and manufacturing to reach world-class levels. Its propeller has a diameter of 252 meters and the wind turbine covers a swept area of 50,000 square meters, equivalent to seven standard soccer fields.
“The larger the capacity of a turbine, the higher the power generation efficiency and the lower cost in development and operation will be,” added Kuangmin, from the company affiliated with China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), a state-owned power company.
Zhangpu Liuao will have a generation capacity of 400 MW and a single unit could produce clean electricity of 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours per year, meeting the annual electricity needs of more than 36,000 urban households. This can save about 500,000 tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.36 million tons per year, CTG says.
Meanwhile, it will greatly save energy as it’s estimated that it’ll reduce the consumption of coal by 22,000 tons.
“The success of the 16-megawatt wind turbine lies not only in its improvement in single-unit capacity but also in effectively promoting offshore wind turbine construction efficiency while lowering cost,” said Qin Haiyan, a wind expert with the China Renewable Energy Society. He said it will boost the progress of relevant technologies and comprehensively increase the cost-effectiveness of offshore wind power.
The total investment in the offshore wind farm is estimated at CNY 6 billion (approximately EUR 820 million; USD 885 million).
“China’s wind turbine manufacturing has led the globe after leap-forward development,” claimed Mingshan.
 has started construction of its offshore wind farm Zhangpu Liuao. The wind farm will use China’s 16-megawatt offshore wind turbines. The project will be both China’s and the world’s first wind farm to comprise 16 MW wind turbines. “Currently, wind turbines with a single capacity of less than 10 MW […]&media=https://wonderfulengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg.jpg){kind=link}