When it comes to clean energy, offshore wind turbine farms are where we see some of the largest machines on the planet. There's an enormous new prototype coming up in Denmark, but as it turns out, it's not nearly big enough to hold a candle to what China's got cooking.
A new offshore turbine prototype from Siemens Gamesa, which was slated to be installed at the Østerild test site in Denmark, has now been confirmed by the Danish Energy Agency as a 21.5-MW affair.
That's from a prototype certificate issued by the agency, and the figure is nothing to sneeze at. With a rotor diameter of 905 ft (276 m), it's positively ginormous. Sadly, we haven't yet got eyes on it.
Early last year, Siemens Gimensa was certain its project would feature "the world's most powerful offshore wind turbine prototype."
Indeed, its plan involved a bigger turbine than the current world's largest one set up in China by Mingyang Smart Energy in September 2024 – a 20-MW monster with a rotor diameter of 853-958 ft (260-292 m) sweeping a total area larger than 12 NFL football fields.
However, as Windpower Monthly noted, while the Østerild test facility has shown footage of Siemens' prototype turbine being transported there for installation late last month, it's probably going to be a while before it's erected and functional.
And that means it's likely that China will beat Denmark to the punch: last October, Dongfang Electric Corporation confirmed it rolled a giant 26-MW turbine off its own production line in the country's southern Fujian Province.
That behemoth is said to be a dizzying 1,115 ft tall (340 m) – higher than the Eiffel Tower – with a blade diameter of 1,107 ft (310 m). The company counts its fully localized design and manufacturing a major achievement – but it hasn't yet announced details around how far it's gotten with installing it.
So to be clear, if Siemens gets its prototype in Denmark up and running before Dongfang, it'll indeed be the largest functioning turbine on the planet – but it'll likely be dwarfed by the Chinese giant in short order.
That's not a knock on Siemens by any means. The company says its prototype will supply enough green energy to power around 7,000 Danish households annually, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55,424 tons a year.
Regardless of which firm comes out on top, it'll be a big win for wind energy, and for the companies' respective countries as they strive to reach their emissions control targets.
Source: Siemens Gamesa via Windpower Monthly
