The era of large-scale offshore wind turbines is here!

The subsidy for offshore wind power is about to decline, and the offshore wind power industry, where investment costs are still relatively high, has also reached a critical period. How to reduce the cost of electricity and increase competitiveness? The large-scale offshore wind turbine is an important link in reducing the cost of offshore wind farms. Large-scale offshore wind turbines can not only dilute wind turbine manufacturing, construction and installation and subsequent maintenance costs, but also use more advanced equipment to improve power generation efficiency. However, higher stand-alone power means higher tower height, higher hub height and longer blades.

So far, the global offshore wind turbine power has reached 15 MW, which is basically parity in the European market. Therefore, Sweden announced the latest 1 million kilowatt offshore wind farm construction plan. One of the plans shows that a single machine power of up to 20 will be applied. For offshore wind turbines of megawatts or more, the maximum height of the wind turbines does not exceed 340 meters, which has caused speculation in the industry that the era of large-scale offshore wind turbines is coming?

Continuous growth of a single power

The benefits of large-scale marine wind turbines are that it can dilute the manufacturing, construction and installation and maintenance costs of the wind turbines. The second is that offshore wind turbines often use more advanced equipment, and the power generation efficiency will also be improved.

With the blessing of multiple advantages, the global average power of offshore wind turbines has increased significantly in recent years. According to data released by the International Renewable Energy Agency, between 2000 and 2019, the global average single-machine power of offshore wind turbines increased from 1.6 MW to 6.5 MW.

According to the data released by the China Wind Energy Association, the development of offshore wind power in my country has accelerated significantly in 2019. As of the end of 2019, of all offshore wind turbines hoisted in my country, the single unit capacity was 4 MW, and the cumulative installed capacity of the units was 2.93 million kilowatts. The total installed capacity accounts for 41.7%, of which 4.0-4.9 MW units account for 17%. In 2002, 2002, 2002 and 2008, 6-8 MW wind turbines have been rolled off the assembly line one after another, and the power of new wind turbines in my country has increased year by year.

Mainstream companies unanimously favor large fans

my country is vigorously developing models with a capacity of 10 MW and above. In 2019, the complete machine manufacturer Dongfang Electric announced the development of a 10 MW offshore wind turbine, which was officially connected to the grid in Fujian this year, setting the current domestic record for the largest single-machine capacity and the longest impeller diameter. At the same time, complete machine manufacturers such as Goldwind Technology and Shanghai Electric are also deploying in the field of large-capacity offshore wind turbines.

The general trend is unstoppable, but in the eyes of the industry, putting "10 MW+" wind turbines into large-scale use will not happen overnight.

"For now, whether it is 10 MW or 15 MW wind turbines, they have not yet entered the mass production stage. Even Europe, the first to develop offshore wind power, has not been able to apply it to 20 MW wind turbines on a large scale. It is probably only in the conceptual stage. The above industry experts told reporters, "The company's layout for large-megawatt units must be laid out in advance, but there must be a certain lag in actual application.