World’s largest onshore wind turbine, and the first to reach 10MW, debuts in China

Chinese wind energy company Envision Energy has reportedly debuted a new 10MW onshore wind turbine, the largest of its kind and boasting the world’s largest rotor diameter.

According to various local outlets including the state-run China Daily, Envision Energy unveiled the new EN-220/10MW last week.

For a long time, onshore wind turbines have been limited in size to a maximum of 7MW, after many years of hovering around the 5MW mark.

Conversely, offshore wind turbines, with access to greater wind speeds and fewer constraints on size, have been for getting steadily bigger for several years.

Now, however, the first two-digit-capacity onshore turbine is officially on the horizon, with expectation that sizes will continue to grow (despite growing issues with equipment defects).

The EN-220/10MW has been specifically designed for China’s north regions, known for favourable wind conditions as well as impressive solar resources.

China Daily reports that the “unit capacity and impeller diameter both rank top in the world” and will help to “further reduce wind power costs”. Compared to the previous EN-171/6.7MW turbine, Envision Energy expects an increase of 8% in power generation per turbine.

Whether these increasingly-larger onshore wind turbines will find a home outside of China remains to be seen, however.

China has set itself massive renewable energy targets and is the world’s largest investor in low-carbon technologies like wind and solar.

China, alone, accounted for $US546 billion of the $US1 trillion invested in low-carbon technologies globally in 2022, according to a BloombergNEF (BNEF) published late last month.

And, with vast tracts of land in prime renewable energy generating locations, mammoth onshore wind turbines such as Envision’s new 10MW model are a welcome solution to generating more renewable energy.

In the West, however, opposition to onshore wind seems to be increasing in step with turbine size, making it uncertain whether 10MW models will find a home outside of countries like China.