MingYang unveils new 16MW offshore wind turbine

Chinese manufacturer MingYang Smart Energy has unveiled plans for a new offshore wind turbine – the MySE 16.0-242 – featuring the industry’s largest rotor and highest nominal power rating.

The hybrid-drive MySE 16.0-242 will have a nameplate capacity of 16MW, a 242-metre rotor diameter and 118-metre long blades, giving it a wind-swept area of just under 46,000m². The industry’s next largest turbine, Vestas’ V236-15.0MW, is due to have a rotor diameter of 236 metres and wind-swept area of 43,743m².

Meanwhile, MingYang’s new turbine has a 16MW power rating, surpassing the 15MW rating of Vestas’ latest model – announced earlier this year – as well as the 14-15MW ratings of turbines previously announced by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and GE Renewable Energy.

MingYang claims a single MySE 16.0-242 turbine will be able to produce 80GWh per year — enough to power more than 20,000 households. It will be capable of producing 45% more electricity than the company’s MySE 11.0-203 model, it added.

The Chinese company stated that the MySE 16.0-242 builds on the designs of its earlier lightweight offshore models, which have power ratings of 5.5MW, 6.45MW, 7.25MW, 8.3MW and 11MW.

MingYang plans to produce the first MySE 16.0-242 prototype by the end of 2022 and install it in the first half of 2023. It aims to start commercial production of the turbine in the first half of 2024.

DNV GL and the China General Certification Center have already certified the design of the MySE 16.0-242.

For an exclusive in-depth look at MingYang’s MySE16.0-242 offshore wind turbine, click here

The manufacturer added that the nacelle of its MySE 16.0-242 will have a modest head mass that enables more efficient use of the tower and foundation. This means less material will need to be purchased and used, it explained.

It added that it has optimised characteristics from existing MingYang turbines – namely their medium-speed planetary gearboxes with load sharing and forced high-precision main bearing lubrication – to boost robustness and efficiency for the MySE 16.0-242.

Meanwhile, for fixed-bottom offshore application, Mingyang has moved the power-electronic system – including the converter, switchgear and transformer – from the base of the tower into the nacelle. This should simplify cabling and also operations and maintenance, it explained. 

For floating projects, the power-electronic system will be at the base of the tower, as it has been for similar predecessor models. This will lower the centre of gravity and potentially stabilise floating operation, the manufacturer added.

MingYang added that the nacelle’s air-tight design will help to protect it from corrosion caused by salt spray, while also allowing for internal natural air cooling.

The manufacturer described the MySE 16.0-242 as “the start of MingYang’s new 15MW-plus offshore product platform”. It plans to introduce more model variants for different offshore settings, including the typhoon-prone South China Sea and the constantly windy North Sea in Europe.

MingYang is also considering development of manufacturing facilities outside China. It already has a business and engineering centre in Hamburg, Germany.