China is now constructing one of its 10 first offshore wind farms, consisting of 100 turbines with a capacity of 400 megawatts. This will amount to the total energy consumption of 35,000 households or the production of a small coal-fired power plant, according to the company behind the project.
The State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) Binhai North Phase 2 Offshore Wind Farm in the Jiangsu province, five hours north of Shanghai, will be one of China’s largest.
Danish company Ramboll will be the first non-Chinese company to design a wind farm in the country. The contract of more than €4 million includes design of the 100 steel turbine foundations, the 400 MW substation, concept for the transformers, breakers and cables, as well as developing the design basis for waves, currents and geotechnical conditions. The project is a continuation of phase 1, where Ramboll was the head designer of the turbine foundations. This will be the first time a single consultant on an offshore wind farm will design this large part of the total project.
The wind farm will be located 22 km off the coast in an area prone to earthquakes and very soft soil-conditions, where the seabed consists of deposits washed out by the large rivers, which poses a high risk of soil liquefaction. This puts unique demands on the design and construction of the foundations that will be placed 60 m below sea bed, in order to support the turbines in depths of 14-18 m.
The Chinese wind power market is the largest worldwide with a global market share of 52%, according to the World Wind Energy Association, and the expectations for the country as the next big offshore market are big, says the organisation.
China is currently planning to install 15-20 gigawatts of offshore wind energy before the end of 2020, which amounts to 40-50 wind farms the size of the recent Anholt Wind Farm in Denmark.
The client is Huadong Engineering Corporation. The developer and owner of the wind farm is (SPIC). SPIC is a large state-owned enterprise committed to developing sustainable energy and in doing so staying globally competitive. SPIC is present in 36 countries and is through its subsidiary SPIC Jiangsu Offshore Wind Power Ltd. interested in engaging with local partners to establish presence on the European offshore wind market.
The first power of the SPIC Binhai North wind farm is scheduled for 31 December 2016.