One turn should charge the e-car
China is building the world’s largest wind turbine
By Robin Grützmacher
01/13/2023 3:09 p.m
A new offshore wind turbine from China is set to break all records. The rotor diameter is 260 meters. And otherwise, the values reported by the state-owned company CSSC are impressive.
Giganticism for the energy transition: The Chinese state-owned company China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has announced the construction of the world’s largest offshore wind turbine. With an output of 18 megawatts and a rotor diameter of 260 meters, the structure called “H260-18MW” is set to set a new milestone in the global wind power industry – and drive the Chinese energy transition forward. In similar record projects from recent years, the rotor diameter is around 10 to 20 meters shorter.
According to the manufacturer, the new system can generate 44.8 kilowatt hours of electricity per revolution at full wind speed. That’s enough to fully charge a smaller electric car, for example – a Tesla Model 3 takes a little more than one turn.
Electricity for 40,000 households
The “H260-18MW” is said to generate more than 74 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year – enough to supply 40,000 households. CSSC advertises itthat it could reduce coal consumption by 25,000 tons and carbon dioxide emissions by 61,000 tons. So far, climate-damaging power generation from coal has been of great importance in China and the energy transition is far from complete there.
Despite a decrease in 2022, the country’s greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise in the future, according to an analysis by the Helsinki-based research institute CREA. Although China has meanwhile achieved notable successes in the expansion of renewable energies and in electromobility, emissions will increase significantly in the coming years due to new coal-fired power plants and the expansion of the iron and steel industry.
Wind turbines like “H260-18MW” are needed – and according to the manufacturer, they should have another advantage: Because of the higher output, fewer of them have to be built. For example, for an offshore wind farm with a capacity of one million kilowatts, 55 of the new 18-megawatt systems are sufficient, instead of 63 systems with “only” 16 megawatts of capacity, which were previously considered the largest in the world.
The efficiency of wind turbines is also an issue in Germany. According to the plans of the traffic light government, there should be wind turbines on two percent of the German state in the next ten years. But where should they all go?
Wolfram Axthelm, Managing Director of the German Wind Energy Association, said in an interview with ntv.de: “We already have 29,000 systems. With continuous renewal and the installation of the latest systems, we won’t need much more. In the end, we might be able to help 30,000 to 35,000 systems in Germany. But in the future with a higher output per system.”