The largest wind turbine in the world has been connected to the grid
Three Gorges Energy, a Chinese company, has successfully linked a 16 MW wind turbine to the power grid. This colossal unit is situated within the Fujian Cross-Strait Offshore Wind Farm and currently holds the distinction of being the world’s largest grid-connected wind turbine.
The MingYang Smart Energy MySE 16-260 turbine boasts an impressive rotor diameter of 260 meters. The turbine houses the engine room and generator atop a tower that reaches a height of 152 meters, collectively weighing 385 tons. Each of the turbine’s three blades spans a remarkable length of 123 meters and weighs in at 54 tons apiece.
Energy production
Positioned within the Fujian Cross-Strait Offshore Wind Farm, the turbine is strategically situated to harness the benefits of the natural wind tunnel effect. This specific area enjoys more than 200 days annually with wind speeds surpassing 51 km/h, as noted by Three Gorges Energy.
The MingYang Smart Energy MySE 16-260 turbine has been ingeniously engineered to operate effectively even when wind speeds reach up to 287 km/h. This provides a safety margin beyond the most extreme conditions ever recorded in the western North Pacific, such as the 260 km/h winds of Typhoon Tip in 1979.
With each rotation of its blades, the turbine captures around 50,000 square meters of air and subsequently injects up to 34.2 kWh of energy into the Chinese power grid. Over the course of a year, it is projected to generate 66 GWh of electricity, which can power nearly 40,000 Chinese households.
Race to 20MW
It’s important to highlight that various companies worldwide are actively working on conceptualizing, designing, and prototyping wind turbines of equal or even larger scale. For instance, Mingyang Wind Power and CSSC Haizhuang have developed separate concepts for 18 MW turbines.
Goldwind has also introduced a prototype turbine boasting a capacity of 16 MW and standing at a towering height of 252 meters. Noteworthy among the turbines already in operation are Siemens Gamesa’s SG 11.0-200 DD (11 MW) and MHI-Vestas’ V164-9.5 (9.5 MW).
Considering the ongoing development of increasingly larger wind turbine concepts, it’s plausible to anticipate the emergence of the world’s first 20 MW wind turbine in the near future.