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China installs world’s 1st 18 MW wind turbine, to power 36,000 homes/yr

Ameya Paleja

4–5 minutes

The turbine can power 36,000 households every year and will save 22,000 tonnes of coal from being burnt.

Updated: Jun 07, 2024 08:09 AM EST

Representational image of an offshore wind turbine

wmaster890/iStock

In a global first, China has completed the installation of an 18 MW wind turbine. The feat was achieved by the Dongfang Electric Corporation, a state-owned manufacturer of power generators, on June 5 with a solitary turbine installed at a coastal test base in South China’s Guangdong province.

As countries look to phase out fossil fuels and increase their dependence on renewable energy, wind turbines are seeing a major boost. To tap into the high-power winds of the seas, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have focused their attention on building bigger and better turbines that can power multiple households in a single sweep of their blades.

At the China Wind Power event in October last year, DongFang unveiled two models of its 18 MW wind turbines, the world’s largest by power rating. Less than a year later, it has successfully completed the installation of a mammoth piece of infrastructure.

How big is an 18 MW turbine?

The turbine’s rotor diameter is a whopping 853 feet (260 m), and it sweeps an area of over 570,000 square feet (53,000 square meters), a little bigger than seven standard-sized football fields.

The company estimates that the turbine will generate 72 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually, sufficient to meet the energy demands of 36,000 households. More importantly, it will achieve this while preventing the burning 22,000 tonnes of coal and the release of 59,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Dongfang’s 18 MW turbine was installed at a test site in China. Image credit: Dongfang Electric Corporation.

Interestingly, DongFang is not the only company in China that has an 18 MW turbine. Interesting Engineering has previously reported MingYang Smart Energy’s 18 MW turbine that can cross 20 MW of power output on more windy days.

Bigger is better, but only in China

A sample of how much energy a large turbine can generate on a good day was seen last year when a 16 MW turbine faced wind speeds of 53 miles (83 km) an hour. Within 24 hours, the turbine produced 384 MWh of energy, sufficient to power 170,000 households.

Back then, the South China Morning Post reported how the turbine designed by another Chinese OEM, GoldWind, could adjust its blades and continue generating energy instead of shutting down, as has been the norm in the industry.

However, this trend of making bigger wind turbines is seen only among Chinese manufacturers. European equipment manufacturer Vestas, which held the previous record for maximum energy output from a turbine, does not have plans to build turbines bigger than 16 MW.

GE Electric, the other turbine maker in the West, also toyed with the idea of making a 17-18 MW version of its popular Halide series of wind turbines. Earlier this year, the parent company shelved the plans, citing losses in offshore business and focusing its working capital on fulfilling a backlog of orders rather than developing new products, Electrek reported.

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On the other hand, Chinese turbine manufacturers have taken the lead in the rapid installation of offshore wind turbines, achieving the feat in as little as 24 hours. It is hardly surprising that the first installation of a massive 18 MW turbine has come from China, and we are likely to see more advances in this sector from this region in the future as well.