On August 11, 2026, in the Huangshayang sea area of Rudong, Jiangsu, the sea breeze was strong, and the white wind turbine blades slowly rotated. Clean electricity was continuously sent to the shore through submarine cables. According to a report broadcasted by CCTV News Channel, the first offshore wind power project in Asia to use flexible direct current transmission technology, the Three Gorges New Energy Jiangsu Rudong 800 MW offshore wind power project, has officially exceeded 10 billion kilowatt hours in cumulative power generation. Since its full capacity grid connection in 2021, this Asia's first offshore flexible DC converter station has been operating safely and stably for over 1600 days, accumulating valuable experience for China's far-reaching offshore wind power development.

Billion kilowatt hour milestone

The project is located in the Huangshayang sea area of Rudong, Jiangsu, with a total installed capacity of 800 megawatts. It will be accompanied by the construction of Asia's first offshore flexible DC converter station, which will be fully connected to the grid and put into operation in 2021. As of August 11, 2026, the project has been operating safely and stably for over 1600 days, with an equipment utilization rate of 99.5%. 10 billion kilowatt hours of clean electricity can meet the annual electricity needs of about 4 million households, equivalent to saving 3 million tons of standard coal and reducing 7.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, with significant energy-saving and emission reduction benefits. The project did not have mature experience to draw on, but the construction team focused on solving world-class problems such as stable operation of positive and negative 400 kV flexible straight systems, monitoring and maintenance of long-distance submarine cables, and regulation of high load conditions.

Soft and straight technology shows advantages

Flexible direct current transmission can be metaphorically referred to as the intelligent transmission artery for offshore wind power transmission. It can not only carry high-power electricity for long-distance transmission, but also actively smooth out intermittent output fluctuations of wind power, ensuring stable access to the power grid. Compared with traditional communication transmission methods, the project's transmission line losses have been reduced by about 1.2 percentage points, and the cumulative savings in transmission costs have exceeded 735 million yuan. As China's offshore wind power development continues to extend into the deep sea, the offshore distance continues to increase, and the transmission capacity continues to improve, the technological limitations of traditional AC transmission methods are becoming increasingly prominent. Flexible direct current transmission, with its large capacity, low loss, and flexible regulation, can better adapt to the external transmission needs of offshore wind power. Keywords: New Energy News Network, Offshore Wind Power

Deep sea wind power expands its path

The Rudong Flexible Direct Current Project is the first offshore wind power project in Asia to use flexible direct current transmission technology for transmission, providing practical verification for the large-scale application of flexible direct current transmission technology for large capacity and long-distance offshore wind power in China. As the first flexible offshore wind power project in China without mature experience to draw on, the project team has accumulated full process experience from equipment selection, system debugging to operation and maintenance through independent research and development and technical breakthroughs. These technological reserves have laid a solid foundation for China's offshore wind power to venture into deep and distant seas, and also provided replicable technological paths and operational paradigms for larger capacity and farther distance offshore wind power projects in the future.Editor/Gao Xue