New details revealed on plan to install world’s most powerful wind turbine

New details have come to light on the plan to install what will be the world’s most powerful wind turbine, which an analyst says will be closely watched by Chinese and Western giants and serve as a “litmus test” for the industry’s ability to supersize.

The details emerged last week when authorities in the Chinese city of Fuzhou cleared the environmental impact assessment for the 314MW Changle Offshore I (North) project.

This project will feature a prototype 26MW offshore wind turbine that has been developed by Chinese manufacturing giant Dongfang Electric.

Dongfang announced this month that it had successfully shipped the nacelle and blades for the giant offshore machine. That will comfortably eclipse the 21.5MW prototype Siemens Gamesa installed on land earlier this year in Denmark.

The Changle project will be based around 60km off the coast of Fujian province, which looks out over the Taiwan Strait. It will feature 18 16MW wind turbines and one 26MW test unit. The turbines will rest on four-pile jacket foundations.

The 26MW prototype will boast a rotor diameter of 310m, with a hub centre 185m above sea level.

The annual equivalent full load hours of the project are expected to be 4317, giving it a capacity factor of 49%.

A previous approval granted by the Fujian provincial government in June 2024 specified that construction must begin within 24 months, unless an extension is granted. That leaves around nine months from now.

Umang Mehrotra, senior analyst for offshore wind at Rystad Energy, said the installation of the colossal prototype machine could be a “game-changer” for the wind industry.

The turbine, currently undergoing testing, is “designed for medium to high wind speeds, making it an ideal fit for the windy Fujian Strait, where it will be deployed.”

“With a record-breaking hub height of 185 meters and a massive 3,400-tonne jacket foundation, the performance of this larger wind turbine model will be closely watched by both Chinese and Western manufacturers.”

The prototype will serve as a “litmus test” for the Chinese wind industry's ability to scale up the larger models, he said, noting that rival manufacturers including CRRC, CSSC and Shanghai Electric are also developing supersized 20MW+ machines currently.

The performance of the Dongfang machine will he said be “crucial in determining if the industry is really up and ready to deploy these larger turbines in the near-term.”

There will also be interest in potential operational challenges with the 26MW model, he said. “If this massive turbine requires substantial amount of replacements and/or repairs, then it might pose logistical and cost challenges – directly impacting the project revenues.”