Innovative technologies to achieve 10 GW offshore wind energy in China

Introduction

The Chinese government has ambitious goal to speed up the installation of 10 GW offshore wind farms (44 new offshore wind farms) in China. The Chinese offshore wind industry has learned the offshore wind experience from Europe and is developing innovation technologies to achieve cost effective solutions and to co-use ocean space to reduce the conflicts with other industries.

Approach

The site conditions of most offshore wind farms in China are different from the conditions of most offshore wind farms in Europe, including the sea bed with a deep soft soil layer and the intertidal areas where the water depth varies greatly. Moreover, the supply chain related to the offshore wind farm construction in China is also different from that in Europe. This study reviews several innovative technologies developed for the first two Chinese offshore wind farms.

Main body of abstract

This study presents the innovative technologies developed for the first two Chinese offshore wind farms. First, the first Chinese offshore wind farm (Donghai Bridge) has 34 units of 3 MW wind turbine. From the project planning to all wind turbines connected to grid was within 20 months. A new foundation with a concrete cap and eight steel piles was invented for this site which has a high velocity ocean current and a deep soft soil sea bed conditions. Two large-scaled crane vessels used for the bridge construction were applied to install the fully assembled wind turbine unit by one offshore lift, which accelerated the installation operation of the wind farm.

Second, the second offshore wind farm in China: Rudong is located at intertidal zone, more than 200 MW capacity have been installed. These include 40*2.5MW (Goldwind); 17 *3MW (Sinovel) and 21*2.3MW. The Goldwind monopile foundations without transition pieces were installed with precision. There were five offshore lifts for the turbine installation: three for the tower, one for the nacelle and one for the assembled rotor respectively. The service vessels and tractors are creatively integrated for the operation and maintenance of the wind turbines.

The co-location of aquaculture (small scale) has been in successful operation in the first 200 MW offshore wind farm. It gives insights into real barriers and risks encountered and the innovative solutions to mitigate the technical and non-barriers. The operation experience will enhance the Stakeholders’ interests on the co-location commercial development at global market.

Finally, in order to achieve the goal of 10 GW offshore wind farms in China, 44 new offshore wind farms have been planned in different time frames. One of the challenges is the novel and expeditious method for installation of these new offshore wind farms. The designs for cost-effective installation and service vessels have been proposed specifically for these intertidal zones.


Conclusion

Several innovative technologies have been successfully developed to meet the challenges arising from Chinese offshore wind farm site conditions including the supply chain conditions. Learning the offshore wind experience from Europe and developing innovation technologies to achieve cost effective solutions and to co-use ocean space are crucial for to achieve the goal of 10 GW offshore wind farms in China.


Learning objectives
Offshore wind farms in China
Co-use ocean space