On May 3, 2026, Three Gorges Group announced that the world's largest 16 MW floating offshore wind power platform, "Three Gorges Navigation", which was developed and built under its leadership, was successfully installed in the Yangjiang Sea area of Guangdong Province on the evening of May 2, marking an important breakthrough in China's deep-sea floating wind power core technology.

Strict working conditions in the sea area

The Three Gorges Navigation Ship is located in a deep-sea area over 70 kilometers offshore and with a depth of over 50 meters. It consists of three core components: a 16 megawatt large capacity wind turbine, a semi submersible floating platform, and a new mooring system. The impeller diameter of the fan reaches 252 meters, the sweeping area is approximately equivalent to 7 standard football fields, and the highest height of the blade tip exceeds 270 meters. The marine environment where the project is located is complex, with maximum wave heights of 20 meters and maximum wind speeds of 73 meters per second, which poses great challenges to equipment installation and long-term stable operation. Pan Hongguan, an offshore wind power engineer at the Guangdong branch of Three Gorges Group, stated that for the first time, the project has implemented multiple domestically produced new technologies and materials such as new mooring, active ballast, intelligent monitoring, and 66 kV dynamic submarine cables, which enable the equipment to have strong typhoon resistance and operate stably in extremely harsh sea conditions.

Domestic anchor cables have excellent performance

The semi submersible floating platform carried by the "Three Gorges Navigation" is about 80 meters long and 90 meters wide, with a displacement of 24000 tons. It relies on 9 suction anchors and is equipped with domestically produced high-performance polyester fiber cables and anchor chains to complete underwater fixed positioning. Among them, polyester fiber cable is the first application in the field of offshore wind power in China, with advantages such as high elasticity, high strength, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance. It is a key breakthrough in China's high-end marine mooring materials.

When the equipment is impacted by wind and waves, this polyester fiber cable can absorb the wave impact force through elastic deformation, greatly weakening the rigid impact of wind and waves on the equipment structure. A single cable can withstand a maximum tensile force of 1300 tons, which can resist ocean corrosion and fatigue wear for a long time, and is suitable for complex deep-sea operating environments. Keywords: offshore wind power, Three Gorges Navigation

Multiple systems empower stable operation

In addition to stable mooring technology, the "Three Gorges Navigation" has for the first time applied active ballast systems to the domestic offshore wind power field. During the operation of the equipment, the system can automatically adjust the water storage capacity of the three column water tanks, accurately control the platform posture, effectively reduce the equipment sway caused by wind and waves, and ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the wind turbine. At the same time, the project is equipped with a brand new 66 kV domestically produced dynamic submarine cable, designed with a special waveform structure, combined with buoyancy blocks, gravity blocks, and anti bending protection devices, perfectly solving the problem of power transmission in complex sea conditions and ensuring the safety and stability of underwater power transmission.Editor/Gong Ziwei