What is the world’s largest wind turbine like?

Wind energy is one of the cornerstones of the energy transition: it is clean, renewable and low-impact, making it possible to supply the electricity needs of homes, businesses and essential services in a green and sustainable way.

Although wind power generation already accounts for a significant share of energy production, it still has plenty of room for growth. Several countries – from China to Spain – are betting on this energy source. To increase its capacity, more infrastructure is needed, which is why work is being done on repowering wind turbines and creating new wind farms.

The wind industry has entered the race to create new tools with more potential and more power generation capacity. Finding the key that will make wind turbines work better or generate more power could be critical to increasing the weight of wind in the overall electricity mix.

Several firms are already working to develop the world’s largest wind turbine.

The largest wind turbine

Right now, while other projects are still at the prototype level, the world’s largest wind turbine is the MySE 16-260. It is the one that has been included as such in the Guinness Book of Records.

Behind this wind turbine is the Chinese company Mingyang Smart Energy, which built it for the China Three Gorges Corporation (the same energy company behind the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest dam). The wind turbine has a rotor with a diameter of 260 meters and blades 123 meters long. Its power generation capacity is 16 megawatts: the Guinness Book of Records estimates that each full rotation of the blades alone generates enough energy to power the equivalent of the consumption of an average European house for 5 days.

This wind turbine is not located on land, but in an offshore installation. That is, the world’s largest wind turbine is connected to offshore wind. Its geographical location also implies adjustments in the development of the infrastructure, since the Chinese coast is regularly hit by typhoons and, with them, intense winds. The wind turbine has been designed to withstand their impact.

Although right now this is the largest wind turbine, it is quite likely to be surpassed in the not too distant future. The same manufacturer that developed it is already working to create larger wind turbines; such as the MySE 18.X-20MW, which reaches 20 megawatts thanks to a 292-meter rotor (or, as El Periódico de la Energía calculates, a swept area equivalent to 9 soccer fields).

Another Chinese company, Dongfang Electric Corporation, has also presented a wind turbine 340 meters high (more than, for example, the Eiffel Tower or the Chrysler Building) and a rotor with a diameter of 310 meters that could reach 26 megawatts. It is also intended for offshore wind farms.

The largest onshore wind turbine

Compared to the wind turbines used in offshore wind power, the turbines used onshore are smaller in size, but this does not mean that interesting figures have not been achieved. The record for the largest onshore wind turbine also comes from China, with Sany Renewable Energy’s SI-270150, which has a capacity of 15 megawatts. Its rotor reaches 270 meters in diameter and its blades are 131 meters long. For now, and although it is connected and in operation, it is still a prototype. It will be tested for a year to confirm its reliability.