China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) has fully commissioned its 2 GW Yangjiang Fanshi offshore wind project in Guangdong, marking the first large-scale application of 18 MW offshore wind turbines.
The project comprises two 1 GW offshore wind farms, Fanshi 1 and Fanshi 2, in waters south of Nanpeng Island in Yangjiang’s Yangdong District. The site extends up to 81 kilometres from the coast and has water depths of up to 53 metres.
A total of 131 wind turbines have been installed, including 33 18 MW units, which CGN says are the largest-capacity offshore wind turbines to be deployed at scale in China.
The 18 MW turbines have a 292-metre rotor diameter and a swept area of approximately 66,000 square metres. At full load, one rotor revolution can generate about 43 kWh of electricity, while each turbine can produce up to 56 million kWh annually, according to CGN.
The project also includes China’s first 500 kV intermediate reactive power compensation station for an offshore wind farm. CGN said the facility enables stable grid connection over the long transmission distance between the offshore project and shore, addressing voltage losses associated with large-scale offshore wind farms located far from the coast.
Following full commissioning, the Yangjiang Fanshi project is expected to supply more than 6.6 TWh of electricity to the grid annually. CGN estimates that this will avoid approximately 1.92 million tonnes of standard coal consumption and 5.1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
With the project entering full operation, Yangjiang’s offshore wind capacity has exceeded 8 GW, making it the Chinese prefecture-level city with the largest offshore wind capacity, according to CGN.