August 25, 2021: MingYang Smart Energy has released details of a massive new offshore wind turbine. The Chinese company aims to install a prototype in 2023 before starting commercial production in the following year.

With a height of 264 meters, a rotor diameter of 242 meters, and a blade length of 118 meters, the scale of the MySE 16.0-242 will be considered as it is well known.

In a statement, MingYang said the turbine would have a capacity of 16 megawatts and produce 80,000 megawatt-hours of electricity each year, which it claimed would be enough to power more than 20,000 households.

MingYang is one of several companies attempting to scale up the size of offshore wind turbines. For example, GE Renewable Energy’s Haliade-X turbine will have a tip height of 260 meters, 107-meter-long blades, and a 220-meter rotor.

Its capacity will be able to be configured to 12, 13, or 14 MW. A prototype of the Haliade-X in the Netherlands has a tip height of 248 meters.

Elsewhere, Vestas has revealed he is planning for a 15 MW turbine, while Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is to work on a 14 MW model, the SG 14-222 DD, which can be boosted to 15 MW if required.

As technology develops, the size of turbines is increasing. In a report published this year, industry body WindEurope said the average rated capacity of turbines installed in Europe in the previous year was 8.2 MW, a 5% increase in 2019. Capacity refers to the maximum amount a turbine can produce, not necessarily what it’s generating.

China is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, but it is becoming a powerhouse in offshore wind. According to data from GWEC Market Intelligence, China installed above half the planet’s offshore wind capacity last year.

With the scale of both turbines and offshore wind farms increasing, attempts are also made to understand how they interact with the marine environment. On Monday, a £7 million research program called ECOWind was launched to expand knowledge on the issue.

The U.K.-based Natural Environment Research Council heads up the four-year initiative in partnership with The Crown Estate and the U.K. government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.