The world's first 16 MW tension-leg platform (TLP) floating wind platform Haiyou Anlan, built by Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. (COOEC), was officially put into operation on August 6 to supply green electricity directly to offshore oilfields. To date, it is the TLP floating wind platform with the deepest operational water depth, farthest offshore distance and largest single turbine capacity in the world.
Deployed in the Pearl River Mouth Basin of China, Haiyou Anlan sits in 136-meter-deep seawater, 136 km from the coastline. Standing over 307 meters tall, the platform carries a 16 MW typhoon-resistant wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 260 meters, engineered to survive Category 17 super typhoons. Compared with semi-submersible floating wind platforms, this TLP design cuts steel usage by 40% and slashes seabed occupation area by 90%. Once operational, it is expected to generate 54 million kWh of renewable power for adjacent oilfields each year, equivalent to saving approximately 15,000 cubic meters of fuel oil and reducing CO2 emissions by 35,000 tonnes.
Haiyou Anlan comprises a wind turbine, a floating hull, a mooring system and seabed anchor foundations, with a maximum displacement exceeding 15,000 tonnes. Its hull was built at COOEC's Qingdao Fabrication Yard and then towed to the company's Zhuhai Yard for final assembly and system integration. COOEC tackled core technical bottlenecks including lightweight structural design and resilience against severe typhoon sea states. Its design concept secured Approval in Principle (AIP) certifications from four leading classification societies: CCS, BV, ABS and DNV. The project team completed more than 70,000 meters of weld seams, achieving a first-time weld pass rate above 99%. Dimensional tolerance for all critical structural components is controlled within 2 millimeters, while the overall weight measurement error stands at only 0.3%. Joint operations of the Lan Jing 7500 and HYSY 291 vessels enabled the team to successfully accomplish subsea mooring with millimeter-level precision. This milestone means China has fully mastered a complete set of proprietary technologies covering the design, construction and subsea mooring of large-capacity floating wind facilities.
Source: COOEC
