Recently, the 1600-ton wind power installation platform “China Merchants Chengfeng”, independently developed, designed, and constructed by China Merchants Leasing in collaboration with China Merchants Shipbuilding, and with construction assistance from Huashang Energy, successfully completed the hoisting of the first 18-megawatt ultra-large offshore wind turbine at CGN’s Yangjiang Fanshi II 1,000,000-kilowatt offshore wind power project in Guangdong.
As the key core equipment supplier for this platform, Huashang Energy provided “China Merchants Chengfeng” with a full set of core systems and equipment, including a 1600-ton slewing crane, a 350-ton deck crane, leg rack main chord tubes, a jacking system, a whole-ship control system, and an electric propulsion system. The success of this operation marks that Huashang Energy’s core equipment has withstood the actual test of deep-sea working conditions.
The total hoisting weight of the 18-megawatt wind turbine in this operation exceeded 1,500 tons, with the nacelle portion alone weighing 473 tons. The hoisting construction faced multiple severe challenges including large tonnage, extreme height, and high precision:
Extremely high hoisting difficulty — the components were overweight and oversized, the center of gravity of the entire unit was high, and especially the control of the attitude of the ultra-long blades measuring 143 meters in length during aerial operations was highly difficult, imposing stringent millimeter-level requirements on installation accuracy.
Harsh operating environment — the construction sea area is located in the open sea, with year-round strong winds, high waves, and variable swells. The complex meteorological and sea conditions posed ultimate tests on the positioning accuracy of the installation vessel, the coordinated operation of equipment in a dynamic environment, and the overall safety management system.
The systems provided by Huashang Energy played the following roles during the operation:
1600-ton slewing crane and 350-ton deck crane: Undertook the lifting of oversized and overweight components. During large-radius, high-altitude operations such as nacelle lifting, hub connection, and blade installation, they cooperated to ensure component attitude control and alignment, achieving a one-time hoisting into place.
Jacking system and leg rack main chord tubes: As the supporting structure for the platform standing on the seabed, the jacking system and main chord tubes ensured the platform’s jacking efficiency and stability under complex sea conditions, providing a stable working base for high-altitude hoisting.
Whole-ship control system and electric propulsion system: The two systems operated in coordination, responsible for the ship’s power distribution and positioning. During the hoisting and assembly process of the wind turbine’s core components, they cooperated to complete the coordination of ship positioning, crane operation, and deck scheduling.
It is understood that this operation took place in the sea area off Yangjiang, Guangdong. The hoisted 18-megawatt wind turbine can be called a “sea giant,” with its scale and performance indicators at the world’s leading level: the total hoisting weight of a single unit exceeded 1,500 tons, equivalent to the total weight of 1,000 family cars. The tower adopts a four-section segmented design, with a total length of 142 meters and a weight of 1,184 tons; the nacelle weighs 473 tons. The hub center height reaches 171.9 meters, approximately equivalent to the height of a 57-story residential building, and the maximum hoisting height for the turbine installation reached 191.9 meters. A single blade is 143 meters long and weighs 66 tons; the rotor diameter reaches 292 meters, with a swept area of approximately 66,000 square meters, equivalent to the size of 9 standard football fields. Under full-load operation, each rotation of the rotor can generate approximately 43 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to meet the daily electricity needs of an average household for 9 consecutive days. The average annual power generation of a single unit is expected to reach 56 million kilowatt-hours, which can equivalently save approximately 16,000 tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 43,000 tons per year, demonstrating significant environmental benefits.
As a fourth-generation wind power installation platform, “China Merchants Chengfeng” possesses the capability to handle large-megawatt, deep-sea wind power construction. Huashang Energy will continue to optimize the technical standards for marine engineering and high-power wind power installation equipment, improving the quality and performance fulfillment level of core equipment.
