Amid industry concerns of an unsustainable race to build ever bigger turbines, a Chinese manufacturer has reportedly revealed plans for a 22MW offshore model that would take the sector further into supersized territory.
Mingyang Smart Energy Group unveiled plans on Wednesday to launch the turbine that would reach 310 metres at its tallest point, according to Bloomberg.
The design was reportedly unveiled at the Beijing International Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition.
Ming Yang plans to build the first one by 2024 or 2025, it was said.
The design would boast around double the capacity of the average new offshore wind turbine being installed today, around 8-12 MW, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Chinese developers have set the pace for supersize turbine plans beyond the 15MW machines that are currently the subject of major commercial orders in the west.
Chinese state-run power giant China Three Gorges
recently installed the world’s current largest operating turbine, a 16MW design with a 252-metre rotor diameter by Chinese manufacturer Goldwind.
MingYang had itself in January
revealed a plan for an 18MW turbine with a rotor diameter above 280 metres that was at that time the largest planned globally. Among Western developers, GE is
lining up a 17-18MW version of its flagship Haliade-X offshore turbine.
The latest MingYang announcement comes amid increasing concern – in the West at least – that the race to rush out ever larger turbines on ever tighter timeframes has become unsustainable, and is
fuelling a reliability crisis in the industry.
This is particularly
prevalent in the offshore sector, prompting a recent call for a
“size cap” on offshore turbines.
The head of Europe’s main wind industry group also recently
warned project developers to think about the “long-term implications” before being “tempted” by cheap Chinese wind turbines.
That came after Chinese developer Sany said it
wants to sell supersized onshore turbines in Europe.
Recharge previously reported that Sany has plans to develop a
monster 15MW onshore wind turbine that would be the world’s largest. The OEM reportedly released new more details of this product at the Beijing conference.
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