China's SPIC eyes beating London Array as the largest offshore wind farm

Its 800MW farm is quickly progressing.

State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), one of the top five power generators in China, is making swift progress in raising its planned 800 megawatts wind power farm off the coast of eastern China's Yancheng, Jiangsu province, China Daily reported. Once completed, the farm will eclipse the 630 mW London Array as the world's largest offshore wind farm. It is set to enter full operation in 2018.

Maturing technology and increasing competition have helped to reduce costs, making offshore power increasingly competitive. The push to expand offshore has been driven by the fact that many major economic hubs in China are located near the coast, analysts said.

The construction of Yancheng project will occur in three phases. The first 100 mW installed capacity consists of 25 4.0 mW Siemens turbines, which are already spinning, occupying 20 square kilometers of water just 10 meters from shore. By March 2017, this portion of the project had generated 190 million kWh of electricity.

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