China’s first 8 MW offshore wind turbine enters operation

Shanghai Electric has commissioned China’s first 8 MW offshore wind turbine, which is now entering operation.

The 8MW-167 offshore turbine, which features the “black start” technology, produces 20% more electricity and reduces the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) by around 11% compared to the 7MW-154 wind turbine, Shanghai Electric said.

The 8 MW turbine is the outcome of an agreement signed with Siemens Gamesa in March 2018 which gives Shanghai Electric a license to produce and sell SGRE’s 8.0-167DD offshore machines in the Chinese market.

Shanghai Electric said that the company is now ”in a prime position to capitalize on the growing Chinese offshore turbine market, where up to 26 GW may be grid-connected by the end of 2025.”

The 8 MW offshore wind turbine features 81.4-metre blades, producing a rotor diameter of 167 metres and a swept area of 21,900 square metres. It was tested onshore at the Shantou Haojiang offshore industrial park.

Shanghai Electric is also exploring solutions that combine renewable energy-based integrated energy systems such as wind, solar power, and energy storage systems, coupled with a 5G+ industrial internet of things.

The demonstration project for an integrated solution features a 4 MW offshore wind turbine and 2.42 MW rooftop photovoltaics. It also incorporates energy storage, charging pile equipment with a 2 MWh capacity, a set of intelligent building environment control systems, 5G+ industrial internet of things, microgrid control center, and energy management system, among all other elements.

The solution has been modified to address conditions across the Asia-Pacific region such as typhoons, and tropical storms which could seriously damage the grid infrastructure and even lead to blackouts of the area, Shanghai Electric said. The restoration of the microgrid from a black start condition is therefore important to microgrid operators.

The Shanghai Electric Project team used lithium batteries as a supporting power source, so the Power Conversion System can regulate the voltage and frequency to the reference value. When the 8 MW turbine goes into an idle state which synchronizes and connects to the microgrid bus voltage, and the wind reaches the cut in speed, the wind turbine officially starts power generation, then the team can increase the load while retaining the system frequency, until the microgrid is operating at full load mode.