The world's first 16-megawatt tension-leg platform (TLP)-supported floating wind power platform, "Haiyou Anlan," officially commenced operations on Thursday in the northern part of the South China Sea, overcoming the global challenge of achieving both structural lightweighting and adaptability to extreme sea conditions through innovative technologies.
The platform has been connected to the Lufeng Oilfield power grid and is directly supplying green electricity, according to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
Power is transmitted to the Lufeng Oilfield power grid via submarine cables. The facility is expected to generate 54 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, the CNOOC said.
The floating structure, as the base of the floating wind power platform, is key to its stability in deep-sea areas. The "Haiyou Anlan" adopts a lightweight design concept, reducing steel usage by 40 percent compared to semi-submersible wind power platforms, which poses significant challenges to structural rigidity, construction precision and weight control.
"The 'Haiyou Anlan' is the world's first wind power platform to apply an all-steel cable tension-leg mooring system. Eight design solutions have received international authoritative certification, filling the domestic gap in high-precision construction technology for tension-leg mooring systems. A total of over 70,000 meters of welding have been completed, with a first-pass welding qualification rate exceeding 99 percent," said Yang Xiaolong, chief engineer of China Offshore Oil Engineering Corporation (COOEC) Qingdao Branch.
Installed about 136 kilometers from the coast in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the South China Sea, the wind power platform stands nearly as tall as a 110-story building and weighs 7,800 tonnes, with a swept area equivalent to 7.5 standard football fields.
"We independently developed the high-strength mooring system and high-precision anchor chain hookup technology, and innovated a multi-equipment joint operation system involving vessels such as the 'Lan Jing 7500' and 'Hai Yang Shi You 291.' We applied a 3D sea state simulation system for dynamic monitoring during construction, successfully achieving millimeter-level underwater connection, filling multiple technological gaps in the installation of tension-leg floating wind power platforms in China," said Cui Ning, chief engineer of COOEC Deepwater Engineering and Services Branch.
China's deep-sea wind resources are abundant and critical to future offshore wind power capacity growth. The company predicts that the project will save 15,000 cubic meters of fuel oil and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 35,000 tonnes per year.
China's floating wind power platform overcomes extreme challenges with innovative technologies
