Posted on February 9, 2026
The world’s first 20-megawatt (MW) wind turbine, which is capable of powering more than 44,000 times a year, has finally been connected to the Chinese’s grid.
China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC), the Chinese state-owned clean energy giant behind the project the world’s largest hydropower developer, the colossal turbine was connected to the grid and started operation on February 5.
Installed in waters off the southeastern Fujian Province, the unit is now the largest single offshore wind turbine ever brought online anywhere around the world. The commissioning marked China’s first offshore deployment of a 20-MW-class wind turbine connected to the grid.
Designed and built along with Beijing-based wind turbine producer Goldwind, the turbine is now spinning at CTGC’s Zhangpu Liuao Phase 2 offshore wind farm. Its installation was completed in January.
A wind power first
The offshore wind farm where the turbine was installed is located 19 miles (30 kilometers) off the province’s southern coast. It is the same project where the world’s first 16-MW wind turbines were installed.
According to CTGC, the turbine operates in waters exceeding 131 feet (40 meters) in depth. Its sheer size is striking even by offshore wind standards. Additionally, its hub reaches 571 feet (174 meters). This is equivalent to a 58-story building. Its rotor diameter stretches 984 feet (300 meters).
The turbine has three domestically developed airfoil blades, each about 482 feet (147 meters) long. Their design balances strength, flexibility, and aerodynamic efficiency at an unprecedented scale.
When they complete a full rotation, the airfoil blades sweep an area comparable to 10 standard football fields. This allows the turbine to harvest significantly more energy from each pass of wind.
Simultaneously, the system’s lightweight structural design and digital integration improve wind capture efficiency while easing transport, installation, and structural loads.
The engineering team reportedly used a fourth-generation vessel with a 2,000-ton lifting capacity to complete the turbine’s construction. At the same time, new design features cut the turbine’s weight by 20 percent per megawatt, simplifying installation and reducing costs.
Largest turbine connected
The wind turbine will generate more than 80 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year.
Such output is enough to meet the annual power demand of around 44,000 households. In doing so, the turbine also displaces about 22,000 tons of standard coal per year.
For offshore wind, which typically relies on large arrays of smaller wind turbines, the ability of a single unit to deliver this level of output represents a meaningful shift in how future wind farms could be designed and optimized.
The 20-MW turbine’s successful grid connection provides technical validation for China’s ambitions in next-gen offshore wind.
It also signals a broader global trend toward ever-larger renewable energy hardware, as researchers push the limits of materials, manufacturing and systems integration.
“The commissioning team overcame challenges like the monsoon winds and complex sea conditions to complete all tests efficiently,” Jiang Guangqiu, CTGC’s Fujian branch deputy general, pointed out.
“This turbine provides crucial technical support for the future development of offshore wind power in deeper waters.”
