Construction of the world’s first offshore wind farm featuring 16 megawatt (MW) wind turbines has started in China.

China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) has launched the second phase of Zhangpu Liuao, its CNY 6 billion ($885 million) offshore wind farm. It’s sited southeast of the Liuao Peninsula in China’s Fujian Province.

The 400 MW Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 offshore wind farm will be able to produce about 1.6 TWh of electricity per year. According to CTG, this can save about 500,000 tons of standard coal and reduce emissions by about 1.36 million tons per year.

This will be the first wind farm to deploy the 16 MW wind turbine that CTG developed with Goldwind Technology. It has a rotor diameter of 252 meters (827 feet). It also has a swept area of around 50,000 square meters (538,195 square feet) – that’s the equivalent of seven standard football pitches. The turbine’s hub is 146 meters (479 feet) high – as tall as a 50-story building.

One 16 MW wind turbine is capable of generating 34.2 kWh of electricity per revolution, and it can produce more than 66 GWh of clean electricity per year, according to CTG.

Western manufacturers GE, Siemens Gamesa, and Vestas are all currently developing 15 MW turbines.

At the beginning of January, China’s CSSC Haizhuang unveiled the rotor hub and nacelle for an 18 MW offshore wind turbine prototype. That 18 MW turbine will eventually bump CTG’s and MingYang’s 16 MW turbines out of its anticipated top spots.

Read more: A Chinese company is building a colossal 16 MW offshore wind turbine 

Photo: Goldwind

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