A Chinese company is placing a big bet that the trend of increasingly enormous wind turbines is nowhere near its ending point.
SANY, a multinational heavy equipment manufacturing firm, announced a revolutionary wind power testing center for 35 megawatt (MW) turbines, as Interesting Engineering reported.
In a LinkedIn post, SANY said it can replicate 20 years of weather in just one year through "high-intensity accelerated fatigue tests" that leverage features like six 100-ton hydraulic cylinders.
That theoretically allows for thorough testing of turbine components for withstanding typhoon-level winds, complex weather patterns, and a number of other potential challenges.
As far as the gigantic 35MW size, SANY's Europe director Paulo Fernando Soares told Recharge he doesn't expect a turbine of that size "in the near future, but this kind of investment is for long term."
Either way, the potential to test turbines of that magnitude is another sign of the explosive competition in China to build bigger and bigger turbines. China's technological revolution in wind includes a recent record-setting 26MW offshore turbine by Dongfang Electric Company. That surpassed another competitor, Mingyang, and its 20MW offshore turbine.
SANY itself has made news with a turbine blade that is the longest onshore one of its kind in the world. These turbines are turning heads not just for their size, which can reach over 60 stories high at the hub and have a diameter of 14 football fields.
Their energy generation and pollution reduction is immense. Dongfang claims with 10 mph winds, its 26 MW turbine can power 55,000 Chinese households. That theoretically would reduce annual carbon pollution by 80,000 tons and cut coal use by 30,000 tons.
Bigger turbines offer greater efficiency, as the enormous blades get more bang for the buck while taking advantage of greater winds.
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China's commitment to innovation in wind is encouraging news in the clean energy sector, and aids the move away from dirty energy. While China is currently the world's biggest polluter, major investments in powerful wind energy can close the gap and push the nation to reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060.
The country's commitment is drawing notice from observers around the globe. Philip Totaro, CEO of renewables analytics firm IntelStor, told Recharge his firm predicted that China would try to "take a global technological lead" in wind by outspending its European competitors in research, development, and manufacturing.
To that end, SANY recently launched an 8MW turbine for the European market. Soares wrote on LinkedIn the company is "serious about being a major global turbine" player.
Given the astonishing capabilities of the 35MW test bench, it's fair to say he isn't bluffing.
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