Wind turbines are a feat of engineering. The massive structures are visually impressive and generate vast amounts of clean energy via a natural and pollution-free source.
Because of that, you'd think they take a long time to install — especially when placed far out at sea.
However, at an offshore wind farm in Zhangpu, China, the state-owned China Three Gorges power company managed to get one up and running in just over a day, Electrek reports.
The 14.3-megawatt turbine was put in place by manufacturer Goldwind and took just 30 working hours from the start of installation to the rotary blades, commencing the generation of clean energy.
According to Goldwind, such a feat was possible by "optimizing several time-consuming processes."
"Through strategies like rotor pre-assembly, modular designs, improved conditions for upending tool disengagement etc., Goldwind can speed up hoisting by 26 hours, improving overall efficiency by 40%," the company said in a statement on LinkedIn.
The speed and success of the installation brings hope for the faster construction of wind farms across the world, which can bring cheap, clean power to the masses.
"That means that 1.43 GigaWatts could be installed [in] say 18 days. How long does it take to install far more expensive nuclear generation?" one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, commented in response to the news.
According to Electrek, the Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 offshore wind farm has a 400-megawatt capacity and can deliver 1.6 terawatt-hours of electricity annually.
Citing comments from China Three Gorges, the publication noted that the farm saves 1 billion pounds (500,000 tons) of standard coal while achieving a pollution reduction of nearly 3 billion pounds (1.36 million tons) yearly.
The speedy installation at the Zhangpu wind farm is not the only impressive occurrence to happen at the location in the past few months. Electrek noted that a 16-megawatt turbine was installed at the end of June 2023 and ran at full capacity for 24 hours by the start of September.
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