China begins single-capacity 16 MW turbine, powered wind farm construction

China claims to have begun the construction of its first extensive offshore wind farm using 16-megawatt turbines on February 4.

This represents a significant change from the smaller, less effective turbines that China's offshore wind farms have often employed, claimed a report on February 5 by China Global Television Network (CGTN), a state-run media, according to Interesting Engineering. 

"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. 

"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.

The new wind farm 

The new wind farm, which will have a total installed capacity of 400 MW and be situated 32.8 kilometers off the shore of Zhangpu County in Fujian Province, is anticipated to begin supplying power to the grid around the end of August. 

The CTG and Goldwind Science and Technology Co. are working together to create the wind farm. This inches the country moving closer to its goal of becoming a global leader in the renewable energy sector, claimed the CGTN report. 

This new wind farm is anticipated to provide more than 1.6 billion kilowatts of power annually, saving 500,000 tonnes of regular coal and lowering carbon dioxide emissions by 1.36 million tonnes.

CTG also intends to combine the development of photovoltaics, offshore hydrogen generation, and marine ranching with the wind farm.

China's increasing wind power

In November 2022, the 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine that CTG and Goldwind Science and Technology Co. designed rolled off the assembly line.

This follows comparable developments in the nation's offshore wind energy sector, where in January 2023, both Haizhuang Wind Power and Ming Yang Smart Energy Group unveiled 18 MW turbines.

Meanwhile, China's aspirations to establish itself as a leader in the world's renewable energy market have advanced significantly with the construction of its first sizable offshore wind farm with 16-megawatt turbines.

In 2023, the demand for advanced energy storage in China is predicted to increase by nearly 50% to 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh), pushing the overall demand to 100 GWh.

Shenzhen-listed China's top energy storage provider, Sungrow Power Supply, predicted late last month that its net profit might have doubled from the previous year to 3.2 to 3.8 billion yuan (US$560 million) in 2022.

446 wind power projects totaling 87 GW of capacity were finished with equipment tendering in 2022, up from roughly 60 GW in 2021, as per the data from wind power information provider Windmango.

China's installed wind and solar power capacity increased by 22 percent last year over the previous year, according to Fitch Ratings. 

The report is partly sourced from the CGTN article.