MingYang Defies Skeptics With Successful Installtion of 20 MW Offshore Turbine

Proof if ever was needed, on the next frontier for Chinese renewable equipment majors, is here. Offshore wind turbines, probably the last big segment that Chinese firms turned their attention to, has a new record holder for turbine size at 20 GW, in the form of Chinese renewable energy equipment manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy. Mingyang has successfully completed the installation of a 20MW behemoth.

Besides bragging rights to the world’s largest, Mingyang has also demonstrated its grasp over the intricacies of offshore wind construction and installation with the successful project to deploy the successor to the Ocean X, the name given to its 16.6 MW turbine it deployed earlier MW giant.

Making the  announcement on LinkedIn last week, Mingyang Smart Energy said that the successful installation of the MySE18.X-20MW offshore wind turbine was a key limestone for the firm.

Located on the island Chinese province of Hainan, the 20MW turbine comes with a flexible wind rotor diameter of between 260 to 292 meters. Despite a lightweight and modular design, the MySE18.X-20MW turbine is rated to generate 80GWh of energy each year. With an average wind speed of 8.5m/s.

It is also Mingyang’s second offshore wind milestone in just the last few months, after the twin-rotor floating wind turbine platform dubbed OceanX, featuring two turbines on a V-shaped platform with a total capacity of 16.6GW. Ocean X had been rated s capable of generating 54 GWh of clean energy.

In an ominous sign of western offshore wind firms that have been struggling with installation and maintainance issues lately,  Mingyang’s closest competitor in the size stakes for now is another Chinese firm, Dongfang Electric Corporation which claims its own 18 MW wind turbine with a capacity to generate 72 GWh of energy each year.

The progress of the Chinese majors will be tested as they seek international orders for the giant turbines, although it seems safe to say that domestic support will definitely follow soon.