On 13 January, China completed installation of what is billed as the world’s first 20 MW offshore wind turbine in the Minnan sea area off Fujian Province, a milestone in the global race toward larger, deeper-water and more efficient offshore wind projects.
The unit is located more than 30 km from land in waters over 40 m deep. It features a hub height of 174 m – roughly equivalent to a 58-storey building – 147 m blades and a rotor diameter of 300 m, giving a swept area comparable to about 10 football fields.
Project information describes a lightweight design of less than 40 t/MW, more than 20% lighter than typical industry designs. The turbine is equipped with lidar and blade load sensors to support unmanned offshore operation and uses proprietary airfoil blades with a quoted power coefficient of up to 0.49.
Developed and demonstrated jointly by China Three Gorges Corporation and Goldwind, the machine forms part of China’s National Key R&D Program and is classified as a “first-of-a-kind” major energy equipment project.
At full operation, the turbine is expected to generate more than 80 GWh of electricity each year, enough to meet the needs of around 44,000 households. Annual CO₂ emissions are estimated to be reduced by roughly 64,000 tonnes.
As offshore wind moves toward ultra-large turbines and deeper sites, this installation showcases China’s growing capabilities in turbine design, supply-chain localisation and offshore engineering, while providing a concrete technical reference for future large-scale projects worldwide.
