World’s First Offshore Wind Farm Using 16 MW Turbines Enters Construction in China

February 6, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) has started construction of the second phase of its offshore wind farm Zhangpu Liuao. The project will be both China’s and the world’s first wind farm to comprise 16 MW wind turbines.

CTG will build the wind farm off the southeast side of the Liu’ao Peninsula in Zhangpu, in the southern part of Fujian Province. According to a press release from the company, this is the first offshore wind project in that area.

Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 will have a generation capacity of 400 MW and will be able to produce about 1.6 TWh of electricity per year. 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.

The total investment in the offshore wind farm is estimated at CNY 6 billion (approximately EUR 820 million; USD 885 million).

As for the 16 MW wind turbines, CTG made headlines at the end of last year after producing the first components for a 16 MW unit. The company developed the model together with Goldwind Technology.

According to CTG, this wind turbine has the largest single capacity, the largest rotor diameter, and the lightest weight per megawatt in the world.

The model has a rotor diameter of 252 metres and a swept area of around 50,000 square metres. A single unit is capable of generating 34.2 kWh of electricity per revolution. A single unit can produce more than 66 GWh of clean electricity per year, CTG said.

In the 15+ MW capacity range, there are already wind turbines in both Europe and China besides CTG/Goldwind’s. However, these are all in the prototype and type certification stages.

That said, 20 MW wind turbines are also not too far away into the future as Chinese wind turbine manufacturers have already announced models of 18 MW and beyond.

Last month, Mingyang Smart Energy unveiled its next flagship offshore wind turbine – the MySE 18.X-28X. The turbine has a swept area of 66,052 square metres and can generate 80 GWh of electricity per year.

Around the same time, CSSC Haizhuang Wind Power announced that it had produced the nacelle for an 18 MW prototype. This turbine, designated as H260-18MW, has a swept area of 53,000 square metres. A single unit will be able to produce more than 74 GWh of electricity per year.