China tests ‘world’s largest’ offshore wind turbine

What is being described as “the world’s largest offshore wind turbine” is currently being tested in preparation for service by Dongfang Electric Company (DEC) in China.

According to DEC, the 26-megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine is the world’s largest in both capacity and size. With a hub height of 185 meters (606 feet) – equivalent to a 63-story skyscraper – the single 26-MW turbine can potentially generate 100 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable electricity each year when operating with wind speeds of 10 meters (32 feet) per second.

This is 31% larger than the previous record of 18 MW and exceeds the size of even the biggest turbines announced but not yet built. 

The turbine’s blades are nearly 500 feet (150 m) long, and the rotor diameter is more than 1,017 feet (310 m), almost the length of the Eiffel Tower. More importantly, the turbine can operate with wind speeds as high as 26 feet (eight meters) per second and is built to withstand typhoons. 

In November 2024, the company announced that the turbine was being rolled off the production line at the Fujian Fuzhou Offshore Wind Power Industrial Park, and that it would soon be ready for service.  

While the location site of its ultimate deployment is unclear, reports indicate that the 26-MW wind turbine could be sited at the Fujian offshore wind farm in the Taiwan Strait, which already hosts what is currently the world’s largest operating turbine.

This turbine, owned by China Three Gorges Corporation, is 152 meters (500 feet) tall, and each single blade is 123 meters (403 feet) long and weighs 54 tons. But it will soon be displaced in that milestone by DEC’s 26-MW wind turbine.