Wind turbines at the Fuqing Xinghua Bay Offshore Wind Farm, Fujian province, Nov 10, 2021. [Photo/VCG]

In Xinghua Bay, Fuqing city of Southeast Fujian province, 59 offshore wind turbines are lined up three kilometers off the coast, spinning tirelessly. At full capacity, these turbines can generate an average of eight million kilowatt-hours of electricity every day.

Cheng Shuangbao, a manager at Fuqing Haixia Electricity Generation Company, has a challenging job of climbing these wind turbines, which stand over 100 meters tall, to handle maintenance and regular inspections.

Recalling his first climb, Cheng admits he was terrified. "My hands and legs were trembling, and I didn't dare to move," he said, adding that years of work have made him desensitized to it.

The 50-year-old has been working at the wind farm for five years, "To handle major repairs, I have to spend eight to 10 hours a day at sea."

Cheng said that during the recent Typhoon Koinu, the entire team was on 24-hour standby.

"When the mobile private network went down, the control center lost remote monitoring of the turbines. We had to dispatch personnel urgently to the fault points to restore communication and ensure the safe and stable operation of the wind farm during the typhoon," he said.

As global offshore wind power develops rapidly, China has emerged as the world's largest offshore wind market. It has been a global leader of wind power installed capacity.

Over the past five years, Cheng said he has witnessed the rapid development of offshore wind power, with single turbine capacities increasing from 5-MW to 8-MW, 10-MW, and now 16-MW, which showed the rapid technological growth of China.

According to Wang Jiabin, a staff member at Fuqing Haixia Electricity Generation Company, a 16-MW turbine can generate 34 kWh of electricity with a single rotation and 66 million kWh annually, enough to power 36,000 households.

The Fuqing Xinghua Bay Offshore Wind Farm is a joint investment by Fujian Energy Group and China Three Gorges Group, with a total installed capacity of 357.4 megawatts, supported by a 220-kilovolt offshore substation.

Ye Yufei, a manager from the company, highlighted the advantages of offshore wind power, saying that it doesn't occupy land resources, has minimal impact on surrounding residents and the environment, and generates higher output.

In addition, as clean energy, offshore wind power is conducive to sustainable development, Ye said.

Since being put into operation, the Fuqing Xinghua Bay Offshore Wind Farm has generated over 5.2 billion kWh of electricity, equivalent to reducing coal consumption by approximately 1.57 million tons and cutting CO2 emissions by about 3.83 million tons, said Cheng, the manager.

Sheng Lei, head of the Three Gorges Industrial Park in Fujian, noted that the province not only has good wind resources, it also enjoys geographical proximity to economically developed regions in eastern China.

It means that the electricity generated in the province can be quickly consumed, which is a significant advantage for Fujian to develop offshore wind power, he said.