Offshore wind power adds a titan on the Chinese coast. One of record, endowed with a surprising power that will allow it to supply energy to tens of thousands of families each year and with measures that exceed many residential towers. The operator China Three Gorges Corporation just announced the installation of a gigantic 16 megawatt (MW) turbine with blades 123 meters long and a hub height of 152 m. All a giant that, claim so much the media chinese as the CTG itselfhas become the largest in the world.
His measurements are impressive.
And its installation impresses.
What happened? That China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) has just scored an important goal in the wind energy arena offshore: a few days ago I completed the lifting and installation of a gigantic 16 megawatt turbine, “the largest wind turbine in the world in terms of installed capacity”, presumes the operator herself. Now you must activate it, a step you expect to take “soon”. The feat has been achieved on the coast of Pingtan county, in Fujian province.
How is the turbine? gigantic. And in the adjective there is no exaggeration. Beyond its enormous power, of 16 MW, the wind turbine has measurements that exceed many residential blocks. your bushingthe central piece that serves as a union between the blades and the shaft, rises to 152 meters high and its rotor diameter reaches 252 meters. Each of its blades measures 123m longwhich allows them to sweep an area of approximately 50,000 square meters.
And since data is always better understood with comparisons, CTG provides a few: the space it covers is equivalent to seven fields standard football pitch and its axis is located at the height of a 52-storey building. Global Times It specifies that the combined weight of the engine room and the generator is around 385 tons.
And what power does it offer? He newspaper goes further and provides some extra brushstrokes that help to better understand the enormous capacity of the wind turbine. According to the data he handles, under conventional working conditions, each revolution of the turbine can generate around 34 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, which allows it to generate a volume of energy that could cover the electricity needs of 36,000 families a year. Another way of putting it: with that capacity, China will be able to save 22,000 tons of coal and 54,000 tons of CO2.
Where is it installed? In the park offshore 400MW Zhangpu Liuao, located in Pingtan, Fujian Province, on the southeast coast of mainland China. The huge 16 MW turbine may be its “highlight”, but the truth is that the installation has at least one other Goliath of offshore wind: a 13 MW wind turbine that was also installed just a few days ago.
The data provided by the CTG itself on June 26, when confirmed its installation, also gives an approximate idea of its dimensions: its rotor diameter is 130 m, which allows the turbine to cover a huge swept area of 35,000 square meters. “This turbine is expected to produce 50 million kWh of clean energy per year, covering the demand of more than 25,000 families per year and reducing standard coal consumption by 15,000 tons and CO2 emissions by 38,000 tons,” needed the Chinese operator.
Because it is important? Beyond his technical interest, his drive for wind power offshore and its capacity to reduce CO2 emissions, the 13 and 16 MW turbines allow China to push its chest in a field in which it has managed to position itself strongly: that of renewable energies, both in photovoltaic and wind power. The news has been echoed by relevant agencies and media in the country, such as xinhua, People’s Daily either Global Timeswhich affects the fact that it mainly has two national companies behind it: CTG and goldwind. In mind CTG Fujian would already have other similar turbines installed in Zhangpu, along the Fujian coast.
The record might not last long. At the beginning of 2023 another prominent manufacturer in the country, CSS Haizhuang, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, presented the rotor hub and nacelle of what is proposed as a gigantic prototype turbine for offshore of 18 MW. The size of its SuperBlade+ blades will reach 128 meters, a mark that would allow it to sweep 53,000 m2, more than that of the new turbines that CTG has just installed in Pingtan. Its capacity will be 44.8 kilowatt-hours per revolution, with which its managers calculate that it could cover the annual consumption of around 40,000 homes.
Images: CTG (Twitter)
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