China’s CRRC Corporation Limited (CRRC) has developed the “most powerful” floating offshore wind turbine in the world, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The turbine was produced in Yancheng city in Jiangsu Province and has a 20-megawatt (MW) generating capacity.
The massive turbine has the ability to generate 62 million kilowatt hours of power annually, enough for roughly 37,000 households, the Spanish Wind Energy Association said. This will reduce carbon emissions by 62,000 tons and save 25,000 tons of coal.
It has a semi-submersible mooring system and floating platform with intelligent sensing and control technologies, enabling it to extend to deeper waters.
“Floating offshore wind turbines are a key technological trend shaping the future of wind energy development,” said Wang Dian, CRRC Qi Hang New Energy Technology Company’s deputy general manager, as Xinhua reported.
In the United States last year, the average newly installed wind turbine had a capacity of 3.4 MW.
“Higher capacity turbines mean that fewer turbines are needed to generate the same amount of energy across a wind plant …