Highlights of key advances in China’s wind turbines technology in 2024

Graphical abstract

1 Overview

In the context of promoting green and sustainable development, the large-scale development of renewable energy has become a critical strategy for combating climate change and achieving carbon emission reduction goals. Wind power, as one of the most established forms of renewable energy, has seen a rapid growth in recent years. Following the “30∙60” dual carbon target announced by the Chinese government in September 2020, China, as the world’s largest wind power market, has experienced further acceleration in this sector. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), a record-high 117 GW of new wind power capacity was installed globally in 2023, marking a 50% increase from the previous year. This surge in new installations spanned across all continents.

As the wind power industry continues to expand, wind power technology is making significant strides. With the increase share of wind power in global energy systems, there are increasingly higher demands for cost reductions and improved grid connectivity. To meet the challenge of cost reductions, the capacity of wind turbines is continuously increasing. In China, onshore wind turbines with a single capacity of 10 MW have been deployed in large numbers, while the first 15 MW onshore wind turbines have been successfully installed in Tongyu, Jilin Province. These 10 MW turbines feature a sweep area of 36000 m², equivalent to the combined area of 5 football fields. A circle rotation of the turbine blade can generate about 23 kWh of electricity, and 1 h of operation can supply the annual electricity needs of 12 average households. The annual power generation from a 15 MW wind turbine can meet the annual electricity demands of 160000 households.

At present, the largest offshore wind turbine connected to the grid in the world is the MySE18.X-20 MW model, independently developed by Mingyang Smart Energy. With a maximum capacity of 20 MW and a rotor diameter of spanning 260 to 292 m, this turbine was successfully connected to the grid on September 26, 2024. Additionally, Dongfang Electric introduced the 26 MW offshore wind turbine at its Offshore Wind Power Industrial Park in Fuqing, Fujian Province, on October 12, 2024. At an average annual wind speed of 10 m/s, a single 26 MW turbine can generate 100 million kWh of clean electricity per year, saving more than 30000 t of standard coal and reducing more than 80000 t of carbon dioxide emissions.

The upsizing of the wind turbines goes beyond mere scaling. To further enhance power generation efficiency and improve grid connectivity, these turbines must meet increasingly stringent standards. This requires continuous technological innovation and breakthroughs to ensure optimal performance and secure operation.

2 Upsizing of wind turbine generators (WTGs)

The relationship between the price and the single capacity of wind turbines is not linear. As turbine capacity increases, the cost per kilowatt decreases, making upsizing wind turbine one of the most direct and effective ways to reduce costs. This trend has contributed to the rapid increase in the single capacity of wind turbines in recent years. In China, the average single capacity of newly installed wind turbines has been increasing annually, with a notable acceleration in growth after 2020, as shown in Fig.1.

Fig.1 Average single capacity of newly installed and accumulated installed wind turbines in China over the years (Data source: CWEA).

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In 2023, the average single capacity of newly installed wind turbines in China reached 5595 kW, reflecting a 24.6% year-on-year increase. Specifically, the average capacity of onshore wind turbines was 5372 kW, marking a 25.1% increase compared to the previous year, while the average capacity of offshore wind turbines was 9603 kW, with a 29.4% year-on-year increase, as shown in Fig.2. By the end of 2023, the average single capacity of China’s cumulative installed wind turbines stood at 2430 kW, representing an 11.6% year-on-year increase.

Fig.2 Average single capacity of newly installed onshore and offshore wind turbines in China between 2013 and 2023 (Data source: CWEA).

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In China, wind turbines with capacities of 6.0–6.9 MW and 5.0–5.9 MW accounted for the highest and second-highest shares of newly installed onshore capacity in 2023, respectively. Meanwhile, for offshore wind turbines, the largest share of newly installed capacity was from turbines in the 8.0–8.9 MW range, followed by those in the 11 MW category, as shown in Fig.3 and Fig.4.

Fig.3 Proportion of new installed capacity of different single capacity wind turbines onshore in China over the years (Data source: CWEA).

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Fig.4 Proportion of newly installed capacity of different single capacity wind turbines offshore in China over the past years (Data source: CWEA).

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3 Advanced control technology and wind turbines intelligence

With the development of wind power technology, wind turbines have become bigger, taller, and smarter, evolving beyond a simple integration of mechanical and electrical components. Over a decade ago, wind turbines featured only 150 monitoring parameters and channels, 10 intelligent monitoring models, and 50000 lines of control code for the main control system. Today, that number has expanded significantly, with 4500 monitoring parameters and channels, 60 intelligent monitoring models, and 5000000 lines of control code for the main control system.

The key technical features of intelligent wind turbines include advanced capabilities such as depth perception, self-recognition, self-control, and collaborative decision making. These features are supported by a multi-level intelligence system, spanning across the turbine, wind farm, wind farm group, and centralized platform [1]. In terms of intelligent control, methods such as fuzzy control, neural network control, genetic algorithm optimization, and model predictive control have been widely used for optimizing wind turbine performance. These intelligent control methods offer advantages in adaptability, robustness, and accuracy, ultimately enhancing the power generation efficiency and stability of wind turbines [1].

3.1 Independent variable pitch technology

With the aid of advanced wind speed and wind direction test sensors, independent variable pitch technology enables real-time monitoring of environmental conditions for each blade (usually three blades) on a wind turbine. The controller then calculates the rotor’s stress condition and adjust the angle of each blade using an independent variable pitch actuator. This technology has become one of the mainstream variable pitch control methods for large megawatt-scale wind turbines.

In 2024, extensive research focused on more intelligent independent pitch control technologies. Zhang [2] and Zhang et al. [3] proposed independent pitch control solutions based on blade root load feedback, which significantly reduce the hub’s equivalent fatigue load under blade root and rotating hub coordinate system. Guo [4] introduced an independent pitch automatic control method based on an improved ant colony algorithm, addressing challenges such as slow convergence speed and susceptibility to local optima in traditional algorithms used for wind power pitch control.

Zhang [5] tackled the issue that the model predictive control (MPC) struggles to accurately predict the future output of wind turbines due to their time-variability, which can impact control performance. This research proposed the use of a forgetting factor recursive least square method to identify wind turbines parameters online, thereby improving MPC’s control effectiveness and reducing blade and hub loads.

Additionally, Liu et al. [6] proposed an independent pitch optimization control strategy based on random disturbance correction control to minimize the influence of model uncertainty and external wind speed interference, ensuring stable output power from WTGS even under high wind speed conditions. This strategy addresses the high-order dynamic characteristics and uncertainties typically overlooked in traditional wind turbine modeling.

For the emerging application of floating offshore wind turbines, Mei et al. [7] proposed a frequency response control strategy considering platform motion. The strategy incorporates independent pitch control aimed at addressing pneumatic negative damping under high wind speed conditions, significantly suppressing large pitch motion of floating platforms during frequency modulation process at a reasonable control cost.

3.2 Pitch angle feedforward control technology

Wind speed instability presents a major challenge to the safe and reliable operation of wind turbines. The advent of new sensing technologies, such as LiDAR, has been widely used in advancing the research and development of mainstream new wind turbines. The feedforward control technology based on LiDAR enables the system to detect changes in wind speed several seconds before they reach the wind turbine. This early detection allows the turbine’s controller to adjust its operation in advance, reducing the impact of gusts, and optimizing power generation efficiency.

In Yan [8], pulsed-wave laser wind measurement radar was used to optimize the control strategy of a wind turbine in a mountain wind farm in Fujian Province, where the power curve initially fell short of expectations. The actual operation results after optimization showed a roughly 4% increase in the overall power utilization hours of the modified wind turbine compared to its non-technical modified counterpart. In Shao et al. [9], an ultra-short-term wind speed prediction method based on improved combined neural network was proposed. This method enhances the accuracy of ultra-short-term wind speed prediction, ensuring more effective implementation of feedforward control.

3.3 Intelligent typhoon resistance strategy

The circum-Pacific region is rich wind resources, making it highly favorable for the development of wind power. However, these areas are also exposed to the impact of typhoons. China is one of the first countries to pay attention to the impact of typhoons on wind turbines and has accumulated significant experience in typhoon resistance design, operation, and maintenance, particularly in coastal areas. In 2015, China issued the national standard for “Wind Turbine Generator Systems under Typhoon Conditions.” Additionally, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) included the content of typhoon-grade wind turbines in its 2019 update of IEC 61400-1, “Wind Energy Generation Systems—Design Requirements.”

The complexity of typhoons lies in their multifaceted impact. Unlike conventional wind conditions, typhoons involve a unique interplay of factors, including varying wind speeds, reference wind speed, turbulence intensity, wind shear, and turbulence ratios in three directions. Therefore, designing wind turbines for typhoon conditions is not only about ensuring the safety of the wind turbines but also balancing performance to avoid overly conservative measures that could affect the economic viability of the wind turbines. While safety remains the top priority, it is also desirable to harness the high wind speed before and after typhoons for increased power generation.

In response to this challenge, China’s wind turbine manufacturers have developed robust typhoon resistance strategies, operational tactics, and maintenance approaches, and achieved positive results. Before a typhoon’s arrival, an early warning system can predict the storm’s trajectory and plan the optimal time window in advance for turbine adjustments. These systems enable timely changes in turbines status and can achieve backup power active yawing control solution or adopt passive free yawing control solutions to ensure the safety of the wind turbines. During a typhoon, by adequately evaluating the load levels of turbines, the crisis is transformed into a good opportunity for power generation using control strategies such as soft cutting-out under storm conditions to safely boost the of power generation of wind turbines.

In 2024, significant advancements were made in wind turbine intelligent typhoon resistance strategies in terms of more refined design approaches and broader application scenarios. Wang et al. [10] explored the spatio-temporal variations of typhoons and their resulting wind speed fields. The findings show that the average wind speed of different wind turbine positions in the same wind farm may vary by more than 10 times during typhoons. Chen et al. [11] analyzed the load on floating offshore wind turbines with a tuned mass damper (TMD) structure, specifically those designed in Spar floating wind turbines. The results confirm that the TMD structure effectively reduces the load on floating wind turbines during extreme wind and wave events, improving their safety.

In addition, Mingyang Smart Energy implemented a single-point mooring system for typhoon resistance in the world’s largest twin-rotor offshore floating wind turbine “OCEAN X,” which provides valuable insights for improving the typhoon resistance design of floating offshore wind turbines.

3.4 Centralized monitoring and fault prediction technology

Centralized monitoring, fault prediction, and life analysis technologies have made wind power management more intelligent and efficient. By constructing a centralized monitoring system based on a big data platform, operation and maintenance companies can comprehensively evaluate factors such as weather, traffic, personnel availability, spare parts. This enables the development of optimal operation and maintenance strategies according to the principles of minimizing power generation loss, reducing operational and maintenance costs, and ensuring availability.

Additionally, by integrating wind turbine operational data (SCADA data), condition monitoring data (CMS data), and other customized sensors or monitoring systems, real-time monitoring of major components such as blades, gearboxes, generators, and bearings is achievable. This setup allows for fault warning and prediction, as well as real-time analysis of the turbine’s condition. It can also analyze the life consumption of both the wind turbine and its components, allowing operators to monitor and manage the wind turbine’s lifespan effectively.

4 Widening application scenarios of wind power

With the continued development of wind power technology, the environmental adaptability of wind turbines has significantly improved. In China, notable progress has been made in wind power development in challenging regions such as high-altitude areas, typhoon-prone zones, low-wind-speed regions, and Desert Gobi.

China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, known for its rich in wind resources, was once considered a difficult area for wind power development due to its high altitude. However, with the development of wind power technology, significant progress has been made in harnessing wind power in this region in recent years. By the end of 2021, the Zhegu Xizang Distributed Wind Farm, developed by China Three Gorges Corporation, was completed and put into operation. Since then, the wind farm has shown impressive power generation performance, marking a significant milestone in the development of ultra-high-altitude wind power. As a result, the development of wind power in Xizang has experienced rapid growth.

Notably, on October 31, 2024, the 100 MW guaranteed grid-connected wind power project in Basu County, Xizang, developed by Datang Company, was successfully commissioned at full capacity. The project consists of 20 units of 5 MW wind turbines from Zhuzhou Research Institute of CRRC, with the average altitude of the wind farm reaching 5050 m. The highest wind turbine installation stands at 5190 m, with the nacelle positioned at an altitude of 5300 m. In addition, on November 14, 2024, the China Nuclear 300 MW wind-solar-storage integration project in Saja county, Xizang Autonomous Region successfully completed its full-capacity grid connection. This project includes 200 MW of wind power, with 40 units of 5 MW wind turbines from Dongfang Electric, and is the world’s largest single-capacity wind-solar-storage integration project in an ultra-high-altitude area. The average altitude of this wind farm is 5000 m, with the highest point reaching 5194 m, as shown in Fig.5 and Fig.6.

Fig.5 Photo of Datang Xizang Basu Wind Farm (Data source: Datang Nujiang Company).

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Fig.6 CNNP Sakya 300 MW wind solar storage integration project (from: CNNP Rich Energy Xizang Company).

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In general, altitudes of 1500–3500 m are defined as high altitude regions, while 3500–5500 m are considered ultra-high altitude. Wind farms in these areas must address unique environmental adaptability problems such as low air density, large temperature differences between day and night, and high ultraviolet radiation. These factors impose higher demands on the control systems, load capacities, electrical and mechanical structures of wind turbines. Additionally, the cooling, lubrication, and hydraulic systems of wind turbines must be specifically optimized to operate effectively under these extreme conditions.

Some countries such as Germany and Denmark, pioneers in wind power development, have widespread wind power installations across their territories. In Germany, the installed wind power capacity per square kilometer reached 159 kW, while in Denmark, it reached 104 kW. Similarly, China’s central and south-eastern regions also hold potential for wind power development. According to data from the National Climate Center and the Chinese Wind Energy Association (CWEA), by the end of 2023, the development of onshore wind power with 140 m high technology had accounted for only about 5%, as shown in Tab.1.

Tab.1 Wind energy resources and wind power development in central and south-eastern China

Position	Exploitable potential of technology/GW	Onshore accumulated installed capacity/GW	Proportion of developed capacity
Yunnan	15089	1630	11%
Fujian	4351	421	10%
Guangxi	19465	1632	8%
Henan	30339	2273	7%
Jiangsu	17678	1135	6%
Guizhou	11958	737	6%
Hunan	20057	1042	5%
Hubei	22638	943	4%
Shanghai	1012	40	4%
Anhui	23060	868	4%
Guangdong	15623	581	4%
Chongqing	6406	233	4%
Jiangxi	17905	615	3%
Sichuan	27025	890	3%
Zhejiang	6432	169	3%
Hainan	4920	27	1%
Total	243958	13235	5%

Note: Exploitable potential of technology is the estimated data in 2021, assuming that the ground height is 140 m, all farmland is available, with the restriction of 500 m away from urban and rural residential area. The cumulative installed capacity reflects data up to the end of 2023. Data source: National Climate Center (NCC), CWEA.

In China, the development and utilization of wind power is closely related to the development of local economy. To address the challenges faced by rural areas and strengthen the village-level collective economy, China launched the “Thousands of Townships and Villages Harnessing Wind Power Action” in October 2022. This initiative, which aligns with the goals of rural revitalization and carbon neutrality, aims to promote the development of wind power in rural regions. At the beginning of 2024, the National Development and Reform Commission, along with other departments, issued a notice to officially launch the “Thousands of Townships and Villages Harnessing Wind Power Action,” with subsequent work plans rolled out in provinces such as Shanxi, Anhui, Gansu, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and other provinces.

The implementation of the “Thousands of Townships and Villages Harnessing Wind Power Action” is supported by advancements in low-wind-speed wind power technologies, including the development of long flexible blades and high towers (such as steel flexible towers and concrete mixed towers), which enable more efficient power generation in areas with lower wind speeds.

5 Improvement of test verification technology

The development of wind power technology involves basic theories and technological innovations in the fields of aerodynamics, mechanical structure, electrical systems, control, and materials. The integration of new technologies, methods, and materials also raises higher demands for wind power design theories, methods, and software. To ensure these innovations meet industry standards, they must be thoroughly validated through a large number of tests. As a result, wind power testing and verification technologies have seen significant advancements in recent years.

Due to the complexity of wind turbine blade design, theoretical calculation only is insufficient for complete verification. Full-scale testing of sample blades is typically required after the design phase of new turbine models. These tests include blade modal analysis, stiffness testing, static test, and fatigue test etc. which are all performed in strict accordance with IEC standards. The goal is to verify that the durability requirements for its entire lifecycle—typically 20 (or 25) years—by accurately simulating ultimate loads and fatigue loads that the blade will encounter.

Accurate full-scale blade testing has always been one of the key challenges in wind power testing technology. In December 2020, CGC officially opened its full-scale wind power blade laboratory in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province. This laboratory is one of the main contents of the National Offshore Wind Power Equipment Quality Inspection and Testing Center. With 5 test stands capable of testing full-scale blades of 150 m long, this laboratory can meet the testing needs of 20 MW wind turbine blades and is currently the world’s largest wind turbine blade laboratory.

As wind power technology continues to evolve, the longest blade now exceeds 147 m, as shown in Fig.7, highlighting the need for testing capabilities for even longer blades. To address this, CGC is building a 180-m-long blade testing laboratory in Jiangsu, as shown in Fig.8, designed to accommodate the testing needs for 25–30 MW wind turbines. With the construction and operation of these two large-scale blade laboratories, significant advancements have been made in the development of ultra-long blade test benches, static and fatigue loading equipment, high-precision loading, and biaxial fatigue loading systems.

Fig.7 147 m blade from Goldwind Company completing the full-scale static test in Yangjiang Blade Laboratory of CGC.

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Fig.8 180 m blade test bench of CGC located in Dafeng District.

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With the increase of the single capacity of wind turbines, the stiffness of the flexibility of the transmission chain also increases, making the design more complex. Existing design theories and methods face certain limitations in addressing these challenges. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct six-degrees of freedom (6-DOFs) loading tests on the transmission chain of large wind turbines.

The 6-DOFs loading test simulates the loads that the wind turbine transmission system may experience over its 20 (or 25) years lifespan. This test also validates grid-connected performance, placing high demands on both the loading and test systems. Currently, several major 6-DOF transmission chain test benches are in operation globally, including the 25 MW test bench at the LORC laboratory in Denmark, as shown in Fig.9, the 15 MW test bench at Fraunhofer in Germany, the 15 MW test bench at Catapult in the UK, and the 15 MW test bench at Clemson University in the United States. These test benches play a critical role in advancing the development and optimization of wind turbine transmission systems.

Fig.9 6-DOF test bench for 25 MW wind turbine transmission system in LORC laboratory in Denmark (Data source: Test facilities | Lorc).

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As China’s wind turbine single capacities have begun to lead the world, Chinese enterprises have increasingly focused on transmission chain ground verification technology. For example, Goldwind Technology has built a 16 MW test bench and currently expanding its capacity to 20 MW level to accommodate the development of larger megawatt wind turbines.

The world’s largest test bench currently under construction is the 40 MW wind power transmission chain test bench at Shantou International Wind Power Innovation Port, built by CGC, as shown in Fig.10. This test bench is expected to be put into operation in 2027 and will become the world’s largest 6-DOF transmission chain test platform upon completion.

Fig.10 System diagram of 6-DOFs comprehensive research and test platform of CGC in Shantou International Wind Power Innovation Port.

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6 Offshore floating wind turbines

As near-offshore resources continue to develop, offshore wind power projects are increasingly expanding into deep waters, with the distance from shore increasing. From a global perspective, far-offshore wind energy resources—located more than 100 km from shore and in water depths of more than 50 m—are more abundant. Countries with advanced offshore wind power technology, such as Germany and the UK, have taken the lead in developing far-offshore wind farms.

Europe was the pioneer in floating offshore wind power, but in recent years, China has made remarkable progress in this field. Since the completion of the “Leading” project by China Three Gorges Corporation in 2021, as shown in Fig.11, China has also successively launched several major floating offshore wind projects, including the “Fuyao” by CSSC, the “Guanlan” by CNOOC, the “Guoneng Shared” by CHN Energy, and the “OCEAN X” by Mingyang Smart Energy.

Fig.11 “Leading” integrated towing of Three Gorges at sea (Source: China Energy Network).

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It is worth mentioning that the “OCEAN X” of the Mingyang Smart Energy adopts an innovative design of a “double-head” and single-point mooring system. This design reduces the ultimate load of the support structure by 40% and allows the wind turbine to adaptively yaw under the combined of anchor chain traction and aerodynamic lift provided by the airfoil tower, as shown in Fig.12.

Fig.12 “OCEAN X” floating wind turbine of Mingyang (Source: Mingyang Smart Energy).

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In addition, the first commercial floating offshore wind farm in China is currently under construction in Wanning, Hainan Province. Invested and developed by PowerChina Renewable Energy Co., Ltd. and contracted by Zhongnan Engineering Corporation Limited (EPC), the project has a total installed capacity of 1 million kW, divided into two phases. The first phase is planned for an installed capacity of 200000 kW, while the second phase for an installed capacity of 800000 kW.

On October 10, 2024, the world’s largest floating wind turbine “Sail” held its offline ceremony in Sheyang, Jiangsu Province. Developed by CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, the turbine has a single capacity ranging from 16 to 20 MW, with an impressive rotor diameter exceeding 260 m. It adopts a compact integrated semi-direct drive design, floating platform stability control technology, and a 66 kV box-type transformer overhead system. This turbine is designed to withstand Category 17th typhoons, with a maximum wind speed capability of 74 m/s.

In the research and development of floating offshore wind turbines, in addition to designing the overall wind turbine load and control systems, the mechanical and electrical components must also be specifically tailored to the unique challenges of floating offshore applications. These components undergo high-strength verification tests such as peak acceleration impact tests, vibration tests, and the tilt and swing tests to ensure their reliability under extreme conditions.

7 More friendly grid connection

7.1 Voltage-source grid forming control for wind turbine

With the increasing proportion of wind power in the power system, addressing the challenges posed by high-proportion wind power systems and weak grid environments becomes increasingly important. To meet these challenges, the concept of voltage-source grid-forming wind turbine has been proposed.

Currently, the mainstream control method for grid-connected renewable energy sources, including wind power, is current-source grid-following control, which regulates the output current to accurately adjust the power being fed into the grid. In this approach, active current reference (I_P,ref) and reactive current reference (I_Q,ref) are used to generate the output current control instruction (i_ref), effectively making the system behave like a controlled current source in the power grid, as shown in Fig.13(a).

Fig.13 Illustrations of (a) current-source grid-following control and (b) voltage-source grid-forming control [13].

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In contrast, voltage-source grid-forming control directly manages the output voltage. This approach creates a voltage control instruction (v_ref) based on amplitude reference (V_ref) and frequency reference (ω_ref), which allows the system to behave as a controlled voltage source in the power grid, as shown in Fig.13(b) [12].

One key advantage of voltage-source grid-forming control is that it regulates the output frequency directly, eliminating the need for additional phase-locking mechanisms. As a result, this system exhibits the operation feature of self-synchronization and can operate effectively in ad hoc network environments, offering improved flexibility and stability in grid integration.

Currently, a variety of specific implementation strategies for voltage-source grid-forming control have been proposed at home and abroad. These strategies include droop control, virtual synchronous control, DC capacitance inertial synchronous control, and virtual oscillator control, among others. The first three control modes mentioned above are mainly applied in wind turbines, each simulating the operational characteristics of synchronous generators to varying degrees [14].

The biggest difference between grid-forming wind turbines and conventional wind turbines lies in the former’s ability to support the power grid. This capability eliminates the need for additional grid stability equipment such as energy storage or distributed modulation cameras and other power grid stability devices, allowing wind turbines to directly support the grid. As a result, integrating grid-forming wind turbines into the system can simplify overall control complexity, make operations and maintenance easier, and reduce certain costs compared with the traditional wind turbine setups with energy storage configurations.

For example, Goldwind Technology, with its newly released Grid-Forming Wind Turbines 2.0, estimates that a 500 MW centralized wind power project using grid-forming wind turbines can reduce the cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by WTGS by nearly 6%. For distributed projects, this configuration can also reduce that cost by 2%.

At present, the application of grid-forming wind turbines has made breakthrough progress. For instance, the Yunda Haoda New Wind Turbine Test Farm Project, with a total installed capacity of 80 MW, has been connected to the grid by the end of 2024. This project features ten wind turbines, five with a single capacity of 7.7 MW and five with a single capacity of 8.34 MW, marking the first station-level application of the largest capacity grid-forming wind turbines in China.

7.2 Low frequency wind turbines

To some extent, low-frequency wind turbines are a result of cost compromises in medium and long-range power transmission. Power frequency transmission (50 Hz) faces significant losses over long transmission distances, promoting China to develop flexible DC transmission technology. However, the need to build two AC/DC converter stations to realize the flexible DC transmission incurs considerable costs, especially for offshore wind power converter stations, which are extremely expensive. This promotes the development of low-frequency transmission technology.

Low frequency transmission, operating at frequencies between about 20–30 Hz, results in less transmission loss in remote transmission compared with power frequency transmission. Moreover, it does not require converter stations, reducing transmission cost within a certain distance. According to estimation, low-frequency AC transmission is more suitable for offshore wind power projects located 80–185 km away, while power frequency AC transmission is suitable for wind power projects within 80–185 km away, and flexible DC is suitable for distances greater than 185 km.

Low-frequency transmission requires wind turbines capable of generating low-frequency power, which results in the emergence of low-frequency wind turbines. The Mingyang Intelligent MySE18.X-20MW, the largest single-capacity offshore wind turbines connected to the grid in September 2024, uses low-frequency grid-connected technology. This allows the turbine to directly output low-frequency AC power, effectively improving the power transmission capacity, transmission distance, and transmission efficiency of the wind farm. This solution helps address the problems of high cost and low energy efficiency associated with large-scale, long-distance power delivery.

8 Prospect

In the future, with the further development of wind power industry, the main development direction of wind power technology is as follows.

Wind turbines design

1) Wind turbines will continue to evolve toward large scale, greater customization, and enhanced intelligent;

2) There will be a stronger focus on the reliability design of wind turbines, with an increased application of reliability design and analysis technologies;

3) The development and application of advanced, refined wind power design software, capable of supporting large megawatt wind turbines and complex application scenarios, will become the focus of research and development.

Key components

1) The design and manufacturing of large, high-performance, lightweight super-long blades will continue to drive innovation in wind power technology;

2) Medium-voltage generators and multi-level converters will gradually show their advantages in development and application;

3) The integration of wind turbine transmission system design will become more widespread, facilitating rapid deployment and application;

4) China will further focus on strengthening the development of key components, such as control systems, chips, and bearings, with independent intellectual property rights.

Smart operation and maintenance, and smart wind farms

1) Intelligent operation and maintenance, intelligent early warning, and fault diagnosis technologies will be further developed;

2) Wind power digitalization, combined with big data applications, will create tangible value, with smart wind farms playing an important role in the wind power industry.

Other areas

The future development of wind power will include more efficient methods for converting wind power into hydrogen. This will be integrated with chemical process to generate green bulk chemicals, facilitating the realization of Power to X concept.

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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