Offshore Wind Farm with Largest Unit Capacity in Asia-Pacific Starts Operation

China's first 10MW offshore blower unit went into operation at the phase 2 offshore wind farm project in Xinghua Bay of Fuqing in South China's Fujian province on July 12.

The blower unit has the largest unit capacity in the Asia-Pacific region and the second-largest in the world.

The milestone operation marks that China has capacity for designing, developing, manufacturing, installing, adjusting and operating its own 10MW offshore wind blower.

With complete proprietary intellectual property rights, the newly operated large-capacity blower is the latest generation of its kind in China.

Jointly developed by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) and Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC), the unit was specially designed for regions like Fujian as well as Guangdong province, also located in South China.

Environmental suitability, equipment reliability and utilization of wind energy are greatly improved, making the unit capable of resisting extremely strong typhoons.

The center of the unit's wheel hub is about 115-meter above sea level, equaling the height of a 40-storey residential building. The impeller has a diameter of 185 meters, the same size as three Boeing 747 airplanes standing in a row. The swept area of the wind rotor is 3.7 times that of a standard football pitch.

The giant equipment is capable of exporting 40 million kWh of clean power annually with a wind speed of 10 meters per second, which can meet standard domestic power demands of 20,000 households, each holding three people. The output is equal to electricity produced by 12,800 tons of coal which produces 33,500 tons of carbon dioxide.

Moreover, the unit, with much lower basic costs in installation, cables as well as operation and maintenance, benefits utilization of marine resources and high-quality development of offshore wind power.

The unit will be mass produced after it passes trial operation and will be promoted in Fujian's 10 million kW wind farms and other wind farms in China and abroad.

As a participator of the development of the blower unit as well as China's largest clean energy enterprise and the world's largest hydropower development and operation enterprise, CTG plays an active role in large-scale development of China's offshore wind power.

In 2015, the company signed a cooperative contract with the Fujian government to make the province, which has rich offshore wind energy, a main region of offshore wind power development projects.

CTG also cooperated with the government of Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, to launch China's first international offshore wind power industrial park.

In the past five years, CTG made full use of its advantages in finance, technology, brand and talents and deepened cooperation with leading wind blower equipment manufacturers around the world to accelerate integrated development of the offshore wind power industrial chain and build a world-leading offshore wind farm and offshore wind power industrial park.

In the meantime, governments at all levels in Fujian are releasing preferential policies to encourage development of the offshore wind power industry.

For example, the Fujian Development and Reform Commission helped promote offshore wind power equipment manufacturing by coordinating offshore wind power resource development and utilization.

Other policies of attracting talents and supporting technological renovation, investment encouragement, market development, and ancillary infrastructure were also released by governmental departments to promote wind power development.

A staff member of CTG said that operation of the 10MW wind blower unit is a result of the cooperation between enterprises, the government and academic institutes. It is also a main achievement in China-made large-scale equipment as well as a turning point from China-made to China-created.

Large-capacity offshore wind power blower units are now under joint development of CTG and other enterprises and institutes. The company will continue to play its role in China's national energy transformation, develop advanced manufacturing, promote the real economy and realize green development as it contributes to the country's offshore wind power technology and pushes forward high-quality development of new energy.

A view of the 10MW offshore blower unit at the phase 2 offshore wind farm project in Xinghua Bay of Fuqing in South China's Fujian province [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

Blowers of the phase 2 offshore wind farm project in Xinghua Bay of Fuqing in South China’s Fujian province [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)