SANY Renewable Energy has secured a bid for Guangdong Energy Group’s Jieyang Shibeishan offshore wind project, which will deploy 14 offshore wind turbines of 13.6 MW and one 10 MW unit.
This milestone project represents SANY’s first back-commercialisation order of large capacity offshore wind turbines, marking the company’s new phase of developing its offshore and onshore wind power businesses in parallel.
As the culmination of its decade-long expertise in onshore wind technology development, SANY’s 12.X~16X MW platform covers both onshore and offshore environments from moderate to high wind speeds. In 2024, the company achieved a milestone with the installation of its first 15 MW prototype at the Tongyu testing site in Jilin Province. This marks the official commencement of SANY’s maritime expansion, realising its aspirations for offshore wind power development.
The Jieyang Shibeishan offshore wind project is situated in the coastal intertidal zone of Jonghai Town, Huilai County, Guangdong Province. Despite its geographical classification, the project operates in actual offshore conditions due to unique climatic and topographical factors. Located in the eastern coastal area of Guangdong Province, Huilai County boasts annual average wind speeds exceeding 8 m/s – qualifying as China’s offshore Class I wind speed zone and surpassing national averages – while simultaneously facing recurrent typhoon threats. These compounded environmental challenges demand turbines with exceptional performance capabilities in offshore wind conditions.
SANY’s products are fully equipped to withstand the project’s extreme environmental challenges. The 13.6 MW typhoon-resistant offshore wind turbines, specifically engineered for the Jieyang Shibeishan Project, are developed under the company’s 12.X~16.x MW onshore and offshore platform. These turbines feature an extended lifespan of 25 – 30 years and can withstand extreme wind speeds equivalent to Category 17 typhoons. Leveraging the platform’s cross-domain adaptability, the turbine design enables knowledge transfer and process replication from onshore track records. This integrated approach creates synergies exceeding simple additive effects throughout the research and development, testing, manufacturing, and operations and maintenance.
In order to ensure the safety of the whole life cycle of the turbines in the offshore operating environment, SANY has implemented a dual prototype verification system combining indoor test bench simulations with field trials at testing wind farms. In the reliable testing system, the overall performance and durability of the unit is comprehensively verified, shaping the reliability from the beginning.
Prior to employment, each prototype undergoes rigorous testing at the company’s 35 MW testing facility. This facility subjects units to multi-directional extreme loads exceeding real-world environmental conditions, enabling pre-emptive identification and elimination of operational risks while expanding technical boundaries.
Only wind turbines that have passed multiple tests at the test bench are eligible to be installed at the testing wind farm. During the wind farm testing, these prototypes will undergo approximately 2000 performance evaluations that meticulously assess component durability and system integration under real-world operating conditions.
The Jieyang Shibeishan offshore wind project was among China’s first concession-tendered wind power initiatives. Its original wind farm, commissioned in 2007, deployed 167 wind turbines of 0.6 MW unit capacity, achieving a total installed capacity of 100.2 MW. Having operated for over 18 years, this wind farm stands as a living chronicle of China’s wind power evolution.
Guangdong Energy Group has initiated the Shibeishan wind farm modernisation project under China’s national policy for upgrading ageing wind power facilities. By replacing legacy turbines with 15 advanced SANY units, the revamped facility doubles total installed capacity while achieving 60 000 m2 of land preservation, 1000 additional annual equivalent full-load hours, and the optimised integration of ecological conservation with economic returns.
