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The world’s largest single-unit capacity wind turbine, GWH252-16MW, has been installed at Pingtan Zhangpu Liuao Wind Farm in China. The wind turbine is developed by Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd and China Three Gorges Corporation.
Commonly known as Goldwind, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd is a Chinese multinational wind turbine manufacturer headquartered in Beijing. China Three Gorges Corporation on the other hand is a Chinese state-owned power company responsible for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam project.
The latter is the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant, that went into operation in 2008.
An overview of the world’s largest wind turbine
The GWH252-16MW turbine features a 123 meters long blade, a rotor diameter of 252 meters and a swept area of around 50,000 square meters. One wind turbine with such a swept area is capable of generating 34.2 kWh of electricity per single revolution.
The unit has completely independent intellectual property rights. Additionally, it has successfully overcome a series of key technical problems. These problems include super long flexible blades, localization of large main shaft bearings, as well as miniaturization of super capacity generators.
Noteworthy, owing to its features, this unit is having not only the world’s largest single-unit capacity but also the world’s largest impeller diameter, and the world’s lightest weight per megawatt.
The installation of the GWH252-16MW turbine at Pingtan Zhangpu Liuao Wind Farm in China
The world’s largest wind turbine was hoisted by Three Gorges Group’s Bai He Tan jack-up installation vessel.
Reportedly, due to the turbine size the vessel installed the tower in four phases. The nacelle and the rotor hub required two separate lifts while the blades required another three. During the operations, Bai He Tan was fed by two heavy transportation vessels. One of the vessels carrying the tower, nacelle and rotor while the second had the blades.
Overall, Bai He Tan jack-up installation vessel stayed on-site for close to 125 hours to install the entire turbine. During this period the vessel performed nine separate lifts. |
