World's most powerful wind turbine installed in China
China takes back crown for most powerful installed wind turbine from Europe, amid concern that relentless arms race to build ever larger machines is doing industry more harm than good
A record smashing 26MW offshore wind turbine has been successfully installed in China by Dongfang Electric, which has now wrestled the claim of having the world’s most powerful installed turbine from Siemens Gamesa.
Dongfang announced today that it has installed the prototype machine at a testing and certification base, saying that it marked a leap forward for the global wind sector.
The turbine has a rotor diameter of 310 metres, with blades that are a record-breaking 153 metres in length. The hub centre for the machine is 185 metres above sea level, or in the case of this onshore prototype, ground level.
The machine features over 30,000 different components and is resistant to even Category 17 super typhoons, said Dongfang.
Earlier this month, Dongfang announced that it had successfully shipped what it said was the world’s heaviest nacelle for the turbine – a 500-tonne beast – along with three blades.
With installation of the machine complete, Dongfang is now the operator of what is comfortably the world’s most powerful wind turbine.
That was something of a coup for Europe’s wind industry, which has in general fallen far behind Chinese wind giants on turbine size and power, with many leading players now planning to deploy 25MW turbines. Only Dongfang is known to have plans for a 26MW turbine, however.
Whether wind industry ‘arms race’ to build ever larger turbines is something to be celebrated is another matter. Many supply chain companies and experts have warned that constantly scaling up turbines is hindering the industry’s ability to scale up deployment generally.