The world's first 18-megawatt offshore wind generator has been installed in the Chinese province of Guangdong

An 18MW semi-direct drive offshore wind turbine was successfully installed at an offshore test base in Shantou County, Guangdong Province on south of China.

This was reported by the Xinhua News Agency.

As noted by the development company Dongfang Electric Corporation, this is the world's largest offshore wind turbine.

The diameter of the wind turbine rotor is 260 m, and its swept surface is – more than 53 thousand m², which is equivalent to the size of 7.4 standard football fields.

According to Dongfang Electric Corporation, the average annual electricity production of the new plant will be up to 72 million kWh, which is enough to meet the electricity needs of about 36 thousand families during the year. At the same time, the wind generator will save more than 22,000 tons of standard coal annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 59,000 tons.