A The world's largest wind turbine sets a record for wind energy generation and can withstand natural disasters such as typhoons and storms. Meet the Ming Yang Smart Energy 16-260!
The Ming Yang Smart Energy (MySE) 16-260 is currently the largest wind turbine in the world and is located off the coast of Fujian Province, China, with a total diameter of 260 meters. The wind power turbine has been operating since July 2023 and beat the previous record of the wind turbine built at the Zhangpu Liuao wind farm on the Liuao Peninsula, which is 252 meters in diameter.
The world's largest wind turbine sweeps approximately 50 square meters of air
O The engine and wind generator housed atop the MySE 152-16's 260-meter tower weigh an incredible 385 tons.. Each of its three 123-meter blades adds another 54 tons, hanging on one side of the generator shaft.
With each complete revolution, the turbine sweeps around approximately 50 square meters of air (the equivalent of seven football fields). Each lap sends 34,2 kWh of electricity into the Chinese power system.
Each year, the world's largest wind turbine will contribute around 66GWh. According to information from IFLScience, before the two recently installed Chinese wind energy turbines, the record holder was General Electric Haliade-X, built in October 2019 near the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, with a total diameter of 220 meters.
Leaving aside the largest wind turbine in the world, for the sake of curiosity, the largest complex of wind farms is the Gansu Wind Farm Project, also located in China, more specifically in the desert areas of Gansu province, in the northwest of the country.
China's wind turbine can withstand typhoons, storms, cyclones and more!
Events such as extratropical cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons generate a lot of fear among the population, due to the many tragedies and losses that are generally linked to these types of events.
However, thanks to scientific and technological development, humanity is slowly learning to take advantage of these phenomena to generate positive aspects for society. A great example of this happened last year, when the largest wind turbine in the world not only survived Typhoon Haikui but also broke a record for wind generation, with the winds generated by the typhoon.
O Typhoon Haikui It generated great damage during its passage through Taiwan and China last September, with its strong winds and torrential rain, including being responsible for an absurd record of accumulated rainfall in Hong Kong, something never seen in 140 years of records.
MySE is an innovative turbine that, in addition to being the largest in the world, has the largest single unit capacity, with a power of 16 megawatts (MW), and the largest rotor diameter.
Energy generation to supply around 170 thousand homes
As Typhoon Haikui approached the Taiwan Strait, where the offshore wind farm is located, the gigantic wind turbine generated around 384,1 megawatt-hours (MWh) in 24 hours, with winds of 85 km/h caused by the typhoon.
To give you an idea, this generated electricity is enough to power around 170 homes in one day, light up 38 million LEDs or make an electric car travel 2,2 million kilometers without needing to be recharged.
This value surpasses the previous record of 364 MWh, set in August last year by a turbine located in Denmark. Most of China's coastal areas are in typhoon zones, and if there are no wind turbines that can withstand the events, it can be said that wind energy has little future in China.
