While already in the record books for being the world's largest, a wind turbine based off the coast of Fujian Province in China has achieved another incredible milestone.
Set on the Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 offshore wind farm, the wind turbine's rotor diameter is about 827 feet, while the turbine's hub is 479 feet high, Electrek reported.
China has built the world's largest wind turbine. Why not?
— S.L. Kanthan (@Kanthan2030) July 20, 2023
This 16 MW colossus is near Fujian province. Each blade weighs 54 tons and is 123 meters long. 😱
China accounts for 52% of global offshore wind energy (installed capacity).#RenewableEnergy #thursdaymorning pic.twitter.com/qBC3IMh8HH
During Typhoon Haikui, the mammoth installation was able to generate 384.1 megawatt-hours of electricity in the span of a day, which would be enough to power around 170,000 homes, according to South China Morning Post.
While wind speeds of 53 miles per hour would usually see a wind turbine lock its blades to prevent the system from overloading, the Goldwind's GWH252-16MW turbine has an intelligent system that allows it to adjust its blades to account for the conditions, meaning there is no loss of power generation, as Electrek reported based on South China Morning Post's assessment.
"We are closely monitoring critical components like the main control programme, pitch system and generators to gradually lift power restrictions while ensuring operational safety," a spokesperson for Goldwind told the South China Morning Post, per The Independent.
4/ The Goldwind GWH252-16MW turbine, which was installed at an offshore wind farm in Fujian Province in June, produced 384.1 megawatt hours in a single day – enough to power roughly 170,000 homes.https://t.co/MhOZFFcDyU
— REsource Labs (@REsource_Labs) September 11, 2023
The turbine's rotor diameter of 827 feet is almost two-and-a-half times the length of an American football field with its end zones. Meanwhile, each blade can get close to breaking the speed of sound (about 767 miles per hour), coming within two-thirds of that figure, according to Euronews.green.
China's renewable energy goals are ambitious, with an International Energy Agency report noting that the country will deliver around half of all the new global renewable power capacity between 2022 and 2027.
Furthermore, its target to reach 1,200 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic and wind power by 2030 could be achieved as early as 2025.
It all shows what can be achieved by moving away from dirty fuel and focusing on cleaner, more sustainable energy that produces zero planet-harming gases.
Thankfully, projects like China's are found all over the world. In fact, the record the GWH252-16MW broke was set in Denmark, with Vesta's V236-15.0 MW prototype producing 363 megawatt-hours of energy in 24 hours in August, according to Electrek.
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