China: China Three Gorges (CTG) Corporation has installed a 16 MW floating wind turbine in the South China Sea, describing it as the world’s largest floating wind turbine of its kind, excluding platforms equipped with two turbines.
The Sanxia Linghang project, also known as Three Gorges Pilot, is located off Yangjiang in Guangdong province, around 70 km from the coast. Positioned in waters deeper than 50 m, the installation combines a 16 MW wind turbine, a semi-submersible floating platform and a seabed mooring system.
The platform measures 80.8 m in length and 91 m in width, while the turbine features a rotor diameter of 252 m. Its blades sweep an area roughly equal to seven football pitches, and the blade tip reaches more than 270 m above sea level.
Much of the assembly work was completed onshore at Tieshan Port before the structure was towed to its offshore location for final installation and testing.
According to CTG, the project includes several advanced technologies, such as a new mooring system, an active ballast system, a smart monitoring system and a 66 kV dynamic subsea cable.
The turbine is expected to produce 44.65 GWh of electricity each year, enough to power about 24,000 households. CTG said the unit was designed to operate in demanding offshore conditions and can withstand waves over 20 m high and wind speeds reaching 264 km/h.
The project follows CTG’s 5.5 MW Sanxia Yinling floating wind turbine, which entered service in 2021.
Source: Balkan Green Energy News
