China has launched the largest floating wind turbine in its class
China has commissioned the largest floating wind turbine in its class. China National Offshore Oil Corporation has deployed the world’s first 16-megawatt floating wind turbine on a tension-leg platform.
The electricity generated by the turbine will not be fed into the onshore grid. Instead, it will be used to power offshore drilling platforms via a system of subsea cables.
The structure left the assembly site in Zhuhai on Sunday, June 28. According to CGTN, its destination is the Lufeng oil field cluster in the South China Sea.
The tension-leg platform is anchored to the seabed by high-tension vertical steel cables. These cables almost completely eliminate vertical movement and ensure stability even in deep and rough waters.
The structure is approximately 307 meters tall and weighs 8,000 metric tons. In terms of single-turbine capacity, it is the largest floating platform of its kind ever built.
Once operating at full capacity, the project will generate an average of 54 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. This is enough to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 35,000 metric tons annually. In addition, the clean energy will save about 15,000 cubic meters of fuel oil that would otherwise have to be burned to power the Lufeng pumps.
The project is part of a broader effort to build a cleaner and more efficient energy system in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. According to the Global Times, last year China accounted for 78% of all new offshore wind capacity connected to the grid worldwide.
This was reported by Interesting Engineering.
China has rejectedaccusations that it is training Russian military personnel.
Earlier, China responded to the attack on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
As a reminder, Russia attacked the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, causing a fire.
Prior to that, Russian drones struck the Zaporizhzhia region, leaving several people injured.
Five rescuers from the State Emergency Service were killed as a result of the Russian attack on Kharkiv.
