As of June 2024, the most powerful wind turbine in operation is the world''s first 18MW semi-direct drive offshore wind turbine, developed by Dongfang Electric Corporation.[1] In October 2024, Dongfang unveiled a 26 MW offshore turbine.[2]
News about switching to greener energy sources is always good news, and this certainly counts: The world''s largest wind turbine constructed to date is now up and running and contributing to the power grid in China.
The MySE 16-260 earns its largest-ever tag thanks to its rotor diameter of 260 meters (853 feet) and its swept area of 53,902 square meters (580,196 square feet); it''s also the most powerful wind turbine we''ve seen so far, offering 16 megawatts of power.
Here are some more stats: The central tower stands some 152 meters (499 feet) tall, and the generator weighs 349 metric tons (385 US tons). It represents a phenomenal piece of engineering, and it should produce around 66 gigawatt-hours of energy per year. That''s enough to supply approximately 36,000 homes, according to China Three Gorges Corporation, which helped construct and install the turbine.
The MySE 16-260 was installed on a wind farm off the coast of the Fujian Province in China. That''s right in the Taiwan Strait, where wind speed regularly exceeds 51 kilometers per hour (32 miles per hour), categorized as a level 7.
That means this turbine needs to be super resilient, and even in its short time in the field, it''s already survived the stresses of Typhoon Talim, which was responsible for 230,000 people being displaced. As well as being built to last, the turbine has more than 1,000 sensors so it can adapt to weather conditions in real time.
"Most of China''s coastal areas are in typhoon zones, and if there is no wind turbine that can withstand typhoons, it can be said that wind power has little future in China," Qiying Zhang, the Chief Technology Officer at the Mingyang Smart Energy company that designed the MySE 16-260, said in a statement.
According to China Three Gorges Corporation, the MySE 16-260 will save around 19,958 metric tons (22,000 US tons) of coal and 48,987 metric tons (54,000 US tons) of carbon dioxide emissions every year.
And there are reasons to be optimistic about the future as well: 18-megawatt wind turbines are already in the pipeline from GE, which means the amount of renewable energy we can produce from wind is only going to go up and up in the years ahead.
This switch to clean energy is urgently needed. Research has shown how we can support ourselves using solar, wind, and other green energy solutions and consign power produced by fossil fuels to history.
Fossil fuels are responsible for nearly 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, and the global warming and extreme temperatures that we''re seeing as a result of those emissions are already being keenly felt.
Mingyang Smart Energy said last week that it''s installed "the world''s largest single-capacity offshore wind turbine" in a project in Hainan, China. The turbine delivers a power output of up to 20 MW, besting its previous 18 MW model from 2023.
According to Mingyang, the MySE18.X-20MW turbine is designed to be lightweight, modular, and highly reliable. With its massive wind rotor diameter of 260-292 m (853-958 ft), it has a maximum wind sweeping area of 66,966 sq m – that''s more than 12 NFL football fields.
The company has a history of building the largest turbines our oceans have ever seen, and notes that with an annual average wind speed of 8.5m/s, its new turbine can generate 80 million kWh of electricity; that''s said to be enough to power housing for 96,000 residents annually.
A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency published last August noted that the global weighted-average LCoE of offshore wind went from being more than twice as expensive as the cheapest fossil fuel alternative in 2010 to just 17% more expensive in 2022. During that period, the cost fell from $0.197/kWh to $0.081/kWh.
That report also illustrates how the localized cost of electricity (LCoE) from offshore wind is still high compared to other renewable energy sources like solar, hydropower, and geothermal. So there''s indeed a lot more to be done before offshore wind becomes more widely favored around the globe.
However, there''s tremendous potential to generate far more energy for our needs from offshore wind projects. Thanks to consistently strong winds out at sea, these turbines can produce energy more reliably and efficiently than onshore wind turbines.
Mingyang also has a larger offshore turbine in the works, capable of delivering 22 MW of power. That''s slated to be installed next year, with a swept area of – phew – 75,477 sq m. Just writing about it has got my megalophobia acting up.
The SeaTitan™ 10MW wind turbine designed by American energy technologies company AMSC is currently the biggest wind turbine in the world. The direct-drive turbine, with 190m rotor diameter, has a rated power capacity of 10MW and hub height of 125m.
AMSC started developing the turbine in 2010 and completed the design in 2012. The generator for the wind turbine has been tested by the US Navy in harsh offshore conditions. AMSC is currently negotiating with potential partners to build and commercialise the SeaTitan 10MW wind turbines.
The ST10 offshore wind turbine designed and developed by the Norwegian technology company Sway, is the world’s second biggest wind turbine. It has a power output of 10MW, is equipped with a rotor of 164m diameter, has a 2rpm nominal speed and blades 67m in length. The turbine was developed between 2005 and 2012 with an investment of €20m ($27.4m), and is suitable for both fixed and floating foundations.
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