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topicnews · October 24, 2024

World’s largest wind turbine record broken again with 26 MW

World’s largest wind turbine record broken again with 26 MW

China, the undisputed world leader in wind energy, has just set another world record for the tallest and most powerful offshore wind turbine in the world, taller than the Eiffel Tower, the Chrysler Building, and longer than the longest US aircraft carrier.

Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC) is building these massive 340m high 26MW wind turbines at its factory in Fuzhou, Fujian Province.

The nacelle’s hub height is 607 feet (185 m), while the blade diameter is a whopping 1,107 feet (310 m). The swept area is 812,424 square feet (75,477 square meters). Do you know what else makes up that wingspan? Twelve Boeing 747s. Relocation would require an area the size of 14 NFL football fields or a decent city block. It’s a bit big.

Dongfang employees celebrate as they roll out the 26 MW wind turbine nacelle

Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan

Despite such a large profile, DEC’s offshore turbines are resistant to typhoons and corrosion, according to DEC. It is designed with a “double anti-typhoon design” to withstand extreme typhoons. However, there are few details about what the design entails.

According to Donfang, “It has the ability to withstand a Category 17 super typhoon,” producing wind speeds of up to 137 mph (220 km/h), about the same as a Category 4 hurricane. UNICEF describes these super typhoons as “extremely destructive , as they sink large ships and potentially cause serious damage and severe flooding.” So it is certainly impressive whether these huge wings can survive such a vortex.

This record-breaking behemoth can generate about 100 GWh of electricity per year with wind speeds averaging 22 mph (36 km/h), meaning a single unit can power about 55,000 Chinese homes – or about 9,200 American homes.

A technician at Dongfang's factory operates a robotic arm while assembling the 26 MW wind turbine components
A technician at Dongfang’s factory operates a robotic arm while assembling the 26 MW wind turbine components

Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan

The 26 MW Dongfang turbine is many times larger in size and capacity than the previous largest turbine, the 20 MW Mingyang offshore wind turbine.

China’s current wind energy level is about 470 GW of wind power. more than three times as much that of the second-placed USA with 148 GW of wind capacity. Germany is in third place with 69 GW of clean wind energy.

Random Thoughts: At maximum capacity and assuming no infrastructure failures, 470 GW of electricity could theoretically power around 388 million US homes. According to the 2023 U.S. Census, there are only about 140 million housing units in the United States.

And as ridiculously massive as this turbine is, it’s entirely possible that it will soon be dwarfed by other, even larger turbines. As we discussed in 2021, when a mere 16 MW Mingyang turbine amazed us, the longer a wind turbine’s blades get, the greater the incentive to make them even longer, as the swept area of ​​a circle increases with of the wind turbine varies square of the radius.

Put it this way; If you double the blade length of a turbine, you get four times as large swept area and therefore four times more power generating capacity – but if you add the same additional length again, you gain even more five times the area originally covered and ultimately larger by a factor nine.

So these may already be some of the biggest machines the world has ever seen – but there’s every reason to believe they’ll get one much bigger. Amazing stuff!

Source: Dongfang Electric Corp