China's 26-megawatt offshore wind turbine, which is the world's largest and developed with fully independent intellectual property rights, was successfully installed on Saturday in Dongying City, Shandong Province.
The biggest challenge for the installation was aligning more than 200 connecting bolts of a 600-ton nacelle with millimeter precision at a height of nearly 200 meters amid weak tidal flat foundations and at a cramped construction site.
The installation team overcame these challenges by reinforcing the ground using an innovative 'pile foundation method' and deploying the world's largest 4,000-ton crawler crane for the lift.
"We made sure wind speeds stayed below six meters per second. Next, the nacelle was carefully leveled before hoisting. And then the lifting crew worked closely with the high-altitude command to guide the nacelle smoothly into place," said Jiang Ronghua, manager of the Nanjing branch of Sinopec Heavy Lifting and Transportation Co., Ltd.
To withstand salt spray corrosion and frequent summer typhoons which are common in China's offshore areas, the turbine applied a fully sealed, anti-corrosion design to meet a 25-year service life at sea.
It is also equipped with a dual typhoon-resistance system that combines hardware and software to reduce the impact of strong winds.
"All of the turbine’s more than 30,000 components are independently developed and controllable. Key parts such as the generator, blades, bearings, and electronic control system are at world-leading standards," said Cheng Wei, deputy director of the Wind Power Research and Design Institute at Dongfang Electric Wind Power Co., Ltd.
China completes installation of world's most powerful offshore wind turbine
