The world’s largest wind turbine, off the coast of Fujian province, China, has broken the record for electricity production in a single day. China is the world leader in wind energy.
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The world’s largest wind turbine has broken the record for power produced by a single turbine in one day.
Off the coast of Fujian province, Chinathe giant Goldwind GWH252-16MW wind turbine rises above the sea.
On September 1, this gigantic turbine – with a diameter of 252 meters – produced 384.1 megawatt hours (MWh) in 24 hours, as a typhoon struck southeast China.
This production is enough to power around 170,000 homes, or 38 million light-emitting diodes, or 2.2 million kilometers traveled in electric car.
It exceeds the previous record of 364 MWh, set in Denmark in August.
Why can the Goldwind turbine continue to operate during a typhoon?
Most turbines cannot operate in a typhoon, and Typhoon Haikui forced many wind farms to close.
However, the Goldwind turbine can adjust its blades in real time when winds reach high speeds, allowing it to continue producing electricity.
“We are closely monitoring critical components such as the master control program, tilt system and generators in order to gradually lift power restrictions while ensuring operational safety,” a Goldwind spokesperson told South China Morning Post.
Goldwind’s GWH252-16MW rotor has a diameter of 252 meters, or about 2.5 football fields, and each blade can reach more than two-thirds the speed of sound.
Which countries are leaders in wind energy?
There Chinais the world leader in wind energy.
In 2021, it installed more offshore wind power generation capacity than any other country in the world over the past five years.
China alone accounted for 49% of the 64.3 GW of total global offshore wind capacity in 2022, more than Europe’s 47%.
The country also plans to build the world’s largest wind farm, a facility so gigantic it could power the entire Norway in electricity. Work on this project is expected to begin before 2025.
However, China’s ecological record is far from impeccable, warns Li Shuo, senior policy advisor at Greenpeace East Asia.
“China is the 800-pound gorilla in the global energy sector,” he said in April.
“There is no doubt that China is driving the expansion of renewable energy around the world. But at the same time, the country is accelerating the approval of coal-related projects.”
The global superpower hopes to produce a third of its electricity from renewable energy by 2025. However, it plans to reach a zero net consumption(net zero) by 2060 — a distant goal compared to many other countries.
