China's first autonomous offshore wind farm inspection platform was officially put into operation at the Rudong offshore wind power project in Jiangsu on Saturday, marking a breakthrough in the country's offshore wind power equipment operation and maintenance.
The platform, consisting of an unmanned vessel and a robot, can carry out remotely-controlled unmanned submarine cable inspections, extending the daily inspection range from the previous 10 kilometers to 100 kilometers, reducing the fault localization time by 90 percent.
It can also raise the detection accuracy by 10 times compared with the traditional method, which relies on manned vessels to tow passive detectors and requires a crew of at least nine people.
During operations, the unmanned vessel navigates to designated areas based on pre-programmed routes, autonomously deploying the robot for fault detection. By collecting submarine cable signals, the robot generates a detailed cable map and guides the unmanned vessel. This method allows the detector to get closer to the cable, significantly improving the detection accuracy.
The platform is developed by China Longyuan Power Group, a subsidiary of the China Energy Investment Group.
The intertidal offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Rudong County in Jiangsu, is the first wind farm that requires offshore wind turbines to be installed at areas of at least 10 kilometers offshore and in water depth of at least 10 meters.
This new breakthrough will provide strong support for China to build deep-sea and far-sea offshore wind farms in the future.
China's first autonomous offshore wind power inspection platform begins operation
Smaller cities in China are enhancing their healthcare services to align with global standards, aiming to better serve both local residents and the community of international visitors and expatriates.
Deqing in east China's Zhejiang Province has been managing to improve its healthcare services to keep up with global standards to better serve the expatriates living and working in the city.
As global medical tourism grows, China's healthcare system is drawing attention from expats worldwide. Known for its efficiency and innovation, the system is no longer confined to metropolises. Smaller county-level regions like Deqing are now making significant inroads on the international stage.
From language support to personalized plans, local medical institutions such as Deqing People's Hospital has offered satisfying treatment to many foreigners including David Burrows, an Australian English teacher at Deqing Qiushi Senior High School.
"I came into this hospital here. I knew there was an international department here and the staff could speak English. So I was comfortable about coming here and they were able to help me out in terms of the next step which was to get a biopsy done. And so, once the biopsy was going to take a little bit of time, so I did shoot back to Australia, hoping I could get it done there and concerned that I might have cancer and the results being negative. So I came back to Australia, but the term was going to be quite long in Australia. So I decided that to be better to come back to China because the procedure could be done here much faster and I was confident with the facilities here being able to do that," said Burrows.
"The treatment plan I set up for David is pretty much the same as what he got in Australia, which is great because it boosts his confidence in us. Plus, getting medical care here is very convenient. Everything runs smoothly, and we keep the lines of communication open and quick. Because of that, when he chose to come back for surgery, he mentioned that he's totally at ease with us handling any of his future health concerns," said Zhao Weiping, a senior urologist at the International Healthcare Center of Deqing People's Hospital.
Burrows also went to the hospital's Traditional Chinese Medicine Department to address his sleep issues.
Experiencing the blend of modern and traditional Chinese medicine gave Burrows a deeper appreciation for the diversity of China's healthcare system, while also letting him feel a sense of warmth that goes beyond borders.
"Healthcare knows no borders. No matter where our patients come from, we provide the same level of care to everyone. Even though we're a county-level city, we're highly internationalized. We're constantly working to improve our facilities and services -- for example, our staff are always improving their language skills. Through these efforts, we hope to give our international friends in Deqing access to top-quality medical care, so they can live and work here with peace of mind," said He Aifen, director of the Deqing County Health Bureau.
China's smaller cities upgrade healthcare services to align with global standards
