China’s first million-kilowatt level offshore photovoltaic project was successfully connected to the national power grid, according to China Energy on Wednesday.
Located in the offshore area eight kilometers from Dongying City of Shandong Province, the one-million-kilowatt offshore photovoltaic project has seen the completion of the first 300 photovoltaic platforms, arranged in five rows extending towards the deep sea. Each platform measures 60 meters in length and 35 meters in width, equivalent to the size of five standard basketball courts. The entire project will require the installation of 2,934 such photovoltaic platforms.
This project is currently the largest open-sea offshore photovoltaic project in China, covering an area of approximately 1,223 hectares. It is the first project to apply 66-kilovolt undersea cables and long-distance land cables to offer greater transmission capacity at lower costs.
"Once fully connected to the grid, the annual power generation is estimated to reach 1.78 billion kilowatt-hours, roughly meeting the annual electricity consumption of 2.67 million urban residents in China, saving approximately 503,800 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.347 million tons," said Wang Lin, project manager of Shandong Kenli Project.
In contrast to traditional land-based photovoltaic farms where solar panels are typically assembled on-site, offshore photovoltaic farms require a unique approach. The initial assembly phase for offshore installations begins on land. Here, workers meticulously assemble both the solar panels and their supporting structures before transporting the entire unit to the site using tugboats. Once on location, the solar panels are then carefully lifted and mounted onto four pre-installed steel piles, ensuring the stability and functionality of the offshore photovoltaic array.
While only two meters of the steel piles are above the water surface, approximately 23 meters are submerged below, with 17 meters anchored into the seabed. The piles are coated with a special anti-corrosion primer, ensuring a lifespan of over 30 years. Moreover, the platform can withstand strong winds and sea ice as thick as 25 centimeters.
All the photovoltaic panels in this project face south, with a precisely calibrated tilt angle of 15 degrees. This angle maximizes the panels' exposure to sunlight. These double-sided panels not only capture direct sunlight from above but also utilize light reflected from the sea surface. This design enhances the power generation of each panel by around three percent.
China's first MW-level offshore PV farm successfully connected to grid
China's first MW-level offshore PV farm successfully connected to grid
Multinational companies are deepening their footprint in China's high-tech industries, expanding research and production to seize opportunities from the country's ongoing industrial upgrade.
According to the latest Multinational Corporations in China report, Research and Development spending in the country accounted for 14.3 percent of global totals in 2025, while 14,000 new foreign-funded firms were established in scientific research and technology services, up 27.2 percent year on year.
At the 7th Qingdao Multinationals Summit, executives talked about how strong demand in sectors such as EVs, semiconductors, and batteries is prompting companies to expand capacity and embed innovation centers across China.
"Now we are opening our 4th product line, our 4th operating plant at the end of this year. So our investment will be around 25 million U.S. dollars. We will double the capacity in every product line that we make and we continue to advance and invest in new technologies, cutting-edge technologies and R and D equipment to advance our products for the Chinese market," said Charles Compson, chief commercial officer of Almatis.
Heraeus Group executives say China’s rapid development in emerging sectors have made the country a key base for innovation, with nearly all of the company’s divisions now operating research centers there.
"China is developing so fast and it is also leading in many aspects, be it robotics, be it electric vehicles, be it also some aspects of semiconductors that we really want to innovate in China. So virtually all of our units, divisions have an innovation center in China," said Klemens Brunner, managing director for Semiconductor, Electronics, and Industrials at Heraeus Group.
Gregor Idekeit, vice president and CFO for China at Claas, highlighted China’s push to modernize agriculture through electrification and smarter machinery.
"It's a big push for modernization of agriculture as we adopt more and more electric components in our machinery and more intelligent machinery. We will continue here to develop and bring products to the Chinese market here on the high end," he said.
In the first four months of this year, more than 3,000 foreign‑funded companies expanded investment in China. The country is also opening high‑tech and modern service sectors, creating new opportunities in areas such as culture, tourism, and digital industries.
"As China continues to expand its high-level opening up to the world, exciting opportunities are emerging across culture, tourism, creative industries and digital technologies. A greater openness will strengthen our cultural experiences and allow us to create a greater level of Chinese story that goes out to the world," said Richard Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Weta Workshop.
"Every time I come to China, I get quite energized and excited about the speed of change. So we're going to continue, of course, building and growing hopefully here," said Mike Doustdar, Novo Nordisk's president and CEO.
The three-day Qingdao Multinationals Summit, which drew 357 multinational companies from 44 countries and regions, concluded Wednesday in east China's Shandong Province.
Multinationals deepen investment in China's high-tech industries
