New machine breaks records for largest single-unit capacity and the largest rotor diameter for onshore turbines, claims Sany
A picture of the 15MW turbine that was installed yesterday in Tongyu, Jilin Province, in China's northeast
A monster 15MW wind turbine claimed to be the largest onshore machine in the world has been installed in China by local manufacturer Sany.
A prototype machine was installed yesterday in China’s northeast and will now undergo over a year of testing to “thoroughly verify” its reliability, the turbine maker announced.
Sany said the turbine has set two new global records for the largest single-unit capacity and the largest rotor diameter (270 metres) for onshore turbines.
The SI-270150 model has an extended design life of 25 to 30 years and blade lengths of 131 metres, with a maximum swept area of over 57,000 square metres, it said. A single turbine could it said generate enough electricity to power 160,000 households.
Paulo Fernando Soares, Sany’s managing director for Europe, wrote on LinkedIn that the new turbine is “larger than most European offshore turbines.”
The largest offshore models offered by Denmark’s Vestas and German-Spanish manufacturer Siemens Gamesa are both 15MW.
“Yes, at times bigger is not better,” said Soares. “But when it is better, it is much, much better! Why should we stop innovation?”
The supersizing of turbines has been a contentious issue in the wind sector in recent years, with complaints that the rapid drive to produce ever larger models is fuelling reliability issues and causing supply chain challenges, including for the transport of the machines.
Sany had revealed plans for the 15MW onshore model to Recharge just over a year ago. It began production of the 131-metre blades earlier this year, claiming that advances in airfoil design enable a more robust structure for the massive component.
The SI-270150 turbine incorporates lightweight design and intelligent load reduction technologies, said Sany, reducing the overall load and allowing for long-distance land transportation.
Chinese turbine makers now dominate what has been dubbed the wind turbine ‘arms race,’ with Mingyang and CRRC in recent months unveiling and installing 20MW fixed-bottom and floating offshore machines that are the largest wind turbines globally.
