China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced recently that it had completed the construction and installation of Haiyou Guanlan, the nation's first deep-sea floating wind platform. The new structure will serve to meet the country's ever-growing energy needs.

This is according to a report by the Tech Times.

 

Haiyou Guanlan is a 5,000m undersea cable designed to work at a depth of 394ft below and last for 25 years in harsh subsea conditions.

The new cable connects the floating wind platform to offshore oil and gas platforms located 136km away from Wengchang on the coast of Hainan Province, southern China.  

The new structure is expected to generate 22 million kWh annually, producing 7.25 megawatts (MW) of energy.

Withstanding strong wind currents

Haiyou Guanlan's physical structure and wind turbine were designed to withstand strong winds at a maximum speed of 84m per second. The platform will operate in marine areas that will inevitably experience extreme weather conditions.

The construction will save 10 million cubic metres of fuel gas annually, which will be able to meet the equivalent annual electricity demand of 30,000 people. A reduction of CO2 emissions will be achieved at about 22,000 tonnes. 

The development contributes to the country's 20 offshore wind power plants, with a total capacity surpassing 30 million kilowatts. 

CGTN released a video of the wind farm that can be seen above.

World's leading country in the offshore wind power sector

This bolsters China's ranking as the world's leading country in the offshore wind power sector, said the Tech Times.

Wind farms are vital to allowing the nation to meet all its energy needs without further polluting. Made to withstand even the most extreme weather, these sturdy constructions offer renewable energy without CO2 emissions.

In January of 2023, CSSC Haizhuang, one of China's top ten defence conglomerates, claimed to have developed a rotor hub and nacelle of a massive 18 MW offshore wind turbine prototype.

"The H260-18MW turbine will make a great contribution to the improvement of turbine capacity and efficiency, as well as reducing the LCOE [levelised cost of energy] of offshore wind farms," read the company statement at the time.