World’s Largest Floating Wind Turbine, The 13-MW ‘Three Gorges Pilot’ Installed In China

China installed the world’s biggest floating offshore wind turbine, the 16-MW Three Gorges Pilot, 43 miles off Yangjiang in the Guangdong Province.

The turbine was assembled at Tieshan Port in Beihai, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and then towed across the Qiongzhou Strait to its destination.

When it becomes operational, the turbine will produce around 44.65 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, sufficient to power 24,000 households for an entire year.

The turbine is supported by a floating structure with a semi-submerged base of 80.82 m long, 91 m wide and weighing around 24,100 tons, enabling it to operate in open sea conditions with deeper waters and powerful winds.

While traditional systems are anchored to the seabed, the platform is held in its place with the help of 9 suction anchors, which work with sturdy polyester cables and anchor chains.

This method allows the platform to remain stable even amidst waves and currents. It also allows the installation of offshore wind turbines in areas where fixed-bottom turbines cannot be installed due to deep water or tricky seabed conditions.

The turbine’s tip is 270 m high, and its rotor is 252 m across. Given its dimensions, the turbine is one of the most powerful in the entire world.

Per the engineers, it will also be efficient and generate more energy than smaller turbines positioned closer to the coasts.

The area it covers is around the size of 7 football fields, allowing it to capture a lot of wind energy at every turn.

The team behind this project introduced many new technologies to handle extreme marine environments, such as a newly designed mooring system, a dynamic monitoring system, an active ballast system and 66 kV dynamic submarine cables for the first time in China.

The mooring system combines polyester cables with anchor chains, which improves flexibility and mechanical performance.

It also helps absorb tension, reduces stress on the structure, and extends its operational life.

This project shows China’s growing focus on constructing massive offshore wind farms and its strengthening its foothold in the global renewable energy market with floating turbines like the Three Gorges Pilot.