World's largest wind turbine is now fully operational and connected

Three Gorges Energy has connected the world's first 16-megawatt monster offshore wind turbine to the power grid. With a mind-boggling 260-meter (853-ft) rotor diameter, this towering colossus will supply clean energy for about 36,000 Chinese homes.

It doesn't look all that out of place, standing in a field of other, lesser goliaths, but this MingYang Smart Energy MySE 16-260 is the largest ever connected to the grid. The "engine room" and generator housed in the hub on top of its 152-m (500-ft) tower weigh in at a gargantuan 385 tons, and each of its three 123-m (404-ft) blades adds another 54 tons, hanging off one side of the generator shaft.

Every time it completes a full revolution, it sweeps about 50,000 sq m (540,000 sq ft) of air (that's seven-odd soccer fields in the internationally accepted layman's units), and sends up to 34.2 kWh of energy into the Chinese power system. Annually, it's expected to contribute about 66 gigawatt-hours.

This demonstration unit sits in the Fujian offshore wind farm in the Taiwan Strait, where it'll take advantage of a natural wind tunnel effect. According to the Three Gorges Group, this location experiences level 7 "near gale" conditions with winds exceeding 32 mph (51 km/h) more than 200 days each year.

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