Tuesday 9 May 2023

China developing hurricane-ready wind turbines

Chinese energy company MingYang Smart Energy has stated it has designed in installed ‘typhoon-resistant’ wind turbines across the country.

Its 7.25MW turbine can withstand 134mph wind speeds for up to 10 minutes – and has most recently been used to supply electricity to local facilities in Hainan.

Given many wind farms are now built offshore in the seas, weather conditions are far more turbulent and difficult to monitor – meaning wind turbines can be damaged or broken with strong storms.

Southeast Asia and the Gulf of Mexico struggle heavily with cyclones and hurricanes but goals are already in place to increase wind energy in the region.

MingYang follows in the footsteps of US company GE, which developed a hurricane-battling 13GW wind turbine two years ago.