Beijing has installed the world’s largest offshore wind converter station in the South China Sea, a project set to directly benefit the Greater Bay Area economic zone, which includes Macau, state media reported on Tuesday.
The world’s largest and most powerful offshore converter station, named ‘Heart of Offshore Wind’, was installed on 23 July approximately 100 kilometres off the coast of Yangjiang, in Guangdong Province, southern China, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The installation is the world’s first 500-kilovolt, 2,000-megawatt flexible offshore direct current (DC) converter station.
The project is currently in its final phase of submarine cable connection and joint testing between the offshore and onshore installations, CCTV reported, adding that once operational, it is expected to supply approximately six billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity per year to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.
The Greater Bay Area is a Beijing-led initiative designed to forge a world-class metropolitan cluster from the Chinese special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong and nine other cities in the neighbouring province of Guangdong — Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Zhuhai, and Zhaoqing — home to more than 80 million people.
At the end of May, the 25,000-tonne structure departed from Nantong, in eastern Jiangsu Province, aboard a semi-submersible vessel bound for southern China, where it was installed using a precision flotation method, according to the Xinhua news agency.
‘It will collect electricity from 163 offshore wind turbines, convert 66-kilovolt (kV) alternating current (AC) into 500 kV direct current (DC) and transmit offshore wind power to onshore grids with greater efficiency and lower losses, ultimately delivering electricity to homes and communities,’ said state-owned China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), which is involved in the project.
The station measures 85.5 metres in length, 82.5 metres in width, and 44 metres in height, covering an area equivalent to a football pitch and rising to the height of a 15-storey building.
Inside, it houses ‘a sophisticated system of electrical, ventilation, and fire-fighting equipment, specially reinforced to withstand the high salinity and humidity conditions of the deep ocean,’ Xinhua reported.
The station has been designed to operate without a permanent crew, relying on remote monitoring systems and intelligent maintenance. ‘Its successful launch will provide a replicable technical model for the future development of deep-water offshore wind energy in China and beyond,’ the agency added.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/29/mundo/china/china-pequim-instala-a-maior-estacao-conversora-eolica-offshore-do-mundo/
