New 16-MW TLP unit is about 200 km southeast of Shenzhen
China has achieved another major milestone in its green energy transition as the world's first 16-megawatt tension-leg platform floating wind power unit officially commenced operations on Thursday, according to its operator China National Offshore Oil Corp.
Located in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the South China Sea, about 200 kilometers southeast of Shenzhen, the structure stands at a height comparable to a 110-story building, said CNOOC, China's largest producer of offshore oil and gas.
Operating in a water depth of 136 meters and 136 km offshore, the facility features a 16-MW anti-typhoon wind turbine. It is engineered to withstand extreme 17-level typhoons with an operational lifespan of 25 years, it said.
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Once fully operational, the project is expected to supply 54 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually to the Lufeng Oilfield grid via a 4.3-km subsea cable. This output equates to saving 15,000 cubic meters of fuel oil and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 35,000 metric tons per year.
As an advanced offshore structure, a TLP floating wind platform comprises an upper floating body, subsea anchor foundations and a mooring system. Compared with semi-submersible platforms, TLP structures offer exceptional stability, lower steel consumption per MW, and a smaller sea-use footprint, alleviating conflicts between offshore wind development and traditional marine activities.
However, TLP platforms are internationally recognized as the most technically complex floating wind assets. Due to dense patent barriers, there were no previous domestic applications in China.
To tackle the high intermittency and volatility of wind energy, CNOOC pioneered a multi-energy coordinated power supply model combining offshore wind, conventional fuel generation and energy storage. This integration enables a high penetration of green power into the oilfield grid, replacing crude oil power generation to curtail fossil fuel dependence and lower emission intensity.
Energy analysts note that China's energy increments are accelerating toward marine domains in 2026. Driven by technological leaps, offshore wind and deepwater oil and gas development have become core engines for safeguarding national energy security while expanding green electricity supply.
Data released by the Ministry of Natural Resources show that China's preliminary gross ocean product reached 5.5 trillion yuan ($815.1 billion) in the first half of the year, marking a 5.1 percent year-on-year growth.
This growth rate outpaced the broader gross domestic product by 0.4 percentage points, lifting the marine economy's share of GDP to 7.9 percent and highlighting the structural resilience of China's coastal industries, it said.
Industry experts believe that China is rapidly cementing its leading edge in the global wind market by scaling up deep-sea infrastructure. Coastal industrial hubs across provinces like Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong and Fujian have fostered a clustered manufacturing supply chain spanning turbine production, subsea cabling, installation and maintenance.
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Backed by this robust foundation, dozens of national-level specialized enterprises have emerged to resolve core challenges in high-end components such as turbine bearings and monitoring sensors, laying a complete, self-reliant industrial chain for China's deep-sea wind expansion.
According to the Global Wind Turbine Market Shares 2025 report by industry consultancy BloombergNEF, global wind capacity additions hit an all-time high of 169 gigawatts last year.
This 38 percent year-on-year surge was largely underpinned by a booming onshore sector in China. Thanks to stable long-term policy support, wind installations over the past decade have become increasingly concentrated in China, it said.
Contact the writers at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn
