Components for the world’s most powerful wind turbine have been rolled out by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) subsidiary CSSC Haizhuang. The 18 MW unit will feature a 260 m diameter rotor to power a modularized medium-speed geared drive train and permanent magnet generator.

The H260-18.0 turbine eclipses the size and capacity of offshore wind turbine systems recently unveiled by other manufacturers in China and a 15.0 MW turbine engineered by Danish wind turbine developer Vestas. The new design incorporates 128 m SuperBlade+ blades offering load-reducing pitch control and the capacity to sweep a vast 53,000 m².

The concept uses a holographic sensing system for overall load-reduction and control technology for variable pitch and torque backed by “multi-source online monitoring” to curb blade flutter — the amount of aeroelastic instability caused by the combination of vibration and pressure distributions on the blades — by 10%. The developers expect the design to minimize vibrations in the turbine’s tower and foundations by 50%.

The 128 m long blade for the 18 MW offshore wind turbine Source: CSSC Haizhuang

The higher output of the H260-18.0 will reduce number of units needed for a 1 GW project by 13% compared to installation of its predecessor 16 MW model. The requirement for only 55 turbines rather than 63 required will cut construction costs by $150,000. Each unit produces 74,000 MWh of electricity annually, enough to supply 40,000 households.