China may be on verge of installing world’s biggest 25 MW wind turbine

China may be on the verge of installing a world-first 25-megawatt (MW) wind turbine soon, following the announcement last week of a delivery of giant flanges for just such a project.

Iraeta Forgings, a Chinese manufacturer of advanced equipment components, announced that it had shipped the final batch of offshore wind turbine flanges to Chinese manufacturing giant CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering.

The flanges, which measure 12 metres in diameter, are supposedly intended for use in a new generation of large offshore wind turbines, including a turbine developed by CSSC with a single-unit power capacity ranging from 20-25MW that was first announced at the China Wind Power 2024 conference in October of last year.

According to a sponsored press announcement on Recharge at the time, the H305-25MW offshore wind turbine also features a wind rotor diameter of 305 metres and customisable towers supporting installation in water depths of between 30 and 60 metres, and measuring between 9.5 to 12 metres in diameter.

That’s where the flanges come into play, with Iraeta saying that 16 tower flanges weighing a total of 219 tonnes had been shipped.

“We have more than 10 offshore wind power forging production lines around the world, and we have achieved closed-loop management of the entire chain from raw materials to flange finished product delivery and have built up the ability to quickly deliver large-diameter wind power flanges in batches,” said Liang Zhen, an Iraeta executive.

“The delivery of the 25 MW flange is another test of our work on ultra-large wind turbines. We are confident and capable of providing sufficient industrial support for various large-scale offshore wind power projects.”

This is not the first time Iraeta has been at the cutting-edge of the wind energy revolution, having supplied supporting components for 15 MW turbines made by Vestas, 16 MW turbines made by Shanghai Electric and Goldwind, 18 MW wind turbines made by Dongfang Electric, and 20 MW turbines made by CRRC Zhuzhou.

Iraeta also boasts the world’s largest open forging press, boasting a capacity of 22,000 tonnes as well as a 22-metre ultra-large diameter heavy vertical lathe and a 22-metre super ring rolling machine.

The company, which makes components not only for the wind energy industry but also for the nuclear power and hydropower sectors, uses a range of carbon-reducing technologies including the recycling of forging industry waste, hot delivery of raw materials, and oxygen-enriched combustion.