26 MW wind turbine produced, test bench for 35 MW

This year the main story we’ve covered in wind power has been the proliferation of ever larger wind turbine sizes. On the Inner Mongolian plateau – a long way away, but one of the world’s biggest markets – 10 MW size onshore turbines are now commonplace. Offshore, China’s OEMs have pushed the limits from 15 MW to 22 MW for offshore, and 16.6 MW and 20 MW floating products have recently been released. Now a 26 MW turbine has rolled off the production line, courtesy of Three Gorges Group, using a Dongfang Electric Corporation design. As always, we wonder just how large wind turbines can get – delivering reduced O&M costs because there are fewer units to maintain, and improved…