Recently, according to the South China Morning Post, a well-known international media outlet in Hong Kong, super typhoon "Capricorn" made landfall in Wenchang City, Hainan Province, China, with wind speeds close to 245km/h.
Observers point out that wind farms in other countries around the world are also at risk of being destroyed by typhoons or similar extreme weather. Wind farms, in particular, located in tropical and subtropical regions, are often exposed to the threat of typhoons, hurricanes or tropical storms. China's wind farms have shown unique technological advantages in resisting natural disasters, especially in coastal areas where typhoons are common.
Through specially designed typhoon-resistant wind turbines, floating wind power platforms, intelligent management systems, and enhanced infrastructure, China's wind farms have significantly improved their resilience to disasters, becoming the global wind power industry leader in coping with extreme weather.
This has not only helped China's wind power industry expand rapidly in China, but also provided technical support and experience for other countries around the world facing extreme weather challenges.
Typhoon hit hard with the performance of wind farms
In the past week, Super Typhoon Capricorn swept across southern China and became the second strongest tropical cyclone in the world this year. The natural disaster caused massive damage to the southern coastal areas, with one of the wind farms severely damaged. Surprisingly, other wind farms have managed to withstand the impact of this strong wind.
When Capricorn made landfall in Wenchang, Hainan Province, with winds of about 245 kilometers (152 miles) per hour, a wind farm on the coastline was the first to hit hard, and several wind turbines were hit hard.
However, the wind farm is not in operation, as it is in the process of being upgraded. The project plans to replace 32 small wind turbines with 16 larger and more efficient typhoon-resistant versions.
Although the new wind turbines have not yet been officially put into service, some have been destroyed by the typhoon. According to representatives of Huaneng Hainan Power Generation Co., Ltd., the operator of the wind farm, at least five wind turbines were blown down by the typhoon. The manufacturing cost of each of these fans is close to tens of millions of yuan, which shows the severity of the loss.
In the past, typhoons were considered a roadblock for wind power projects, especially in the typhoon-prone coastal areas of southern China. However, in recent years, with the advancement of technology, the performance of wind farms in typhoons has improved significantly.
Qin Haiyan, secretary-general of the China Wind Energy Association, pointed out that there are few cases of wind turbines being destroyed by typhoons in China today, thanks to the country's rapid development in typhoon-resistant design.
Nowadays, when a strong typhoon comes, the wind turbine automatically stops rotating and adjusts its direction through the yaw control system to reduce the resistance of the wind. However, because the wind farm in Wenchang has not yet been officially put into operation, the yaw system has not been activated, resulting in the wind turbine not being able to adjust in time in the face of side winds.
Compared with other countries, China has achieved a significant leading position in wind power disaster resilience technology. Chinese wind turbine manufacturers, such as Mingyang Smart and Goldwind, have developed typhoon-resistant wind turbines specifically for typhoon-prone coastal areas.
Not only do these fans have larger blade diameters, they also have the ability to adapt to extremely high wind speeds and are able to respond to strong winds by automatically adjusting the direction of the fans through an intelligent control system.
In addition, China has developed the world's leading floating wind power platforms, such as the "Floating Wind Platform" technology launched by Mingyang Intelligence, which can move freely in a deep-sea environment and automatically adjust the angle of the platform to face a head-on typhoon.
This technology is not only widely used in typhoon-prone areas along China's coast, but also provides valuable experience for wind power development in other typhoon-prone areas around the world.
Although some wind farms in Europe and the United States have similar applications, wind farms in these areas are mostly located in areas with low to medium wind speeds, and the frequency of extreme weather is low, so the need for disaster resilience design of wind farms is not as urgent as in China.
Although European and United States countries are gradually beginning to pilot the deployment of typhoon-resistant wind turbines in typhoon-prone areas, China's large-scale application is significantly more extensive, especially in the coastal and deep-sea wind power fields.
It is worth mentioning that another Chinese wind power company, Mingyang Smart Energy, has built a new wind farm in Hainan and its wind turbines have performed well in this typhoon.
The wind farm is equipped with what is said to be "the world's largest single offshore wind turbine", which is extremely typhoon-resistant. Although only a few days after the Capricorn landing, the wind farm was unharmed, demonstrating the progress of China's wind power technology.
Not only does this state-of-the-art wind turbine have a power generation capacity of up to 20 megawatts, but its massive blades are 292 meters in diameter and cover an area the size of almost nine football fields. This design effectively improves the efficiency of wind energy capture and enhances the stability of wind turbines in high wind speed environments, especially suitable for typhoon-prone areas.
Through the test of this typhoon, China's wind power industry has demonstrated its ability to cope with natural disasters. This is not only the result of technological progress, but also the manifestation of the improvement of the competitiveness of Chinese wind power enterprises on a global scale.
In the past, wind farms in China's coastal areas have often suffered losses due to typhoons, and some have even argued that the typhoon-prone southern coast is not suitable for wind power development. However, in recent years, Chinese companies have gradually overcome this challenge with continuous technological innovation, and have even begun to apply these technologies to more complex marine environments.
The arrival of super typhoon "Capricorn" has brought losses to some wind farms, but it is more a demonstration of the maturity and strength of China's wind power technology in the face of extreme weather.
As Qin Haiyan said, typhoons are no longer an insurmountable obstacle to China's wind power development. This event once again demonstrates the importance of technological innovation in the fight against climate change and extreme weather.
The impact of typhoons on China's wind power industry is compared with the world
Although Super Typhoon Capricorn caused damage to some wind farms, China's wind power industry has shown remarkable resilience in the face of such natural disasters.
Looking back at the development of wind power over the past decade, the technological progress of China's wind power industry has enabled China not only to effectively cope with extreme weather such as typhoons, but also to occupy a favorable position in the international market. Compared with other countries in the world, China's experience and technological advantages in this field are gradually emerging.
China has been at the forefront of the world in wind power typhoon technology, but wind farms in other countries are still threatened by extreme weather such as typhoons and hurricanes. For example, wind farms off the coast of the United States are often hit by hurricanes, and while some projects have yaw systems and windproof designs, there has not been a large-scale deployment of typhoon-specific resilience technologies like China.
In addition, typhoon-prone countries such as Japan and the Philippines have also begun to introduce anti-typhoon technology, but the scale is relatively small and relies on imported equipment.
Globally, most of the wind farms in Europe and United States are located in areas with medium and low wind speeds, and extreme weather is rare, so the requirements for wind farms to resist disasters are not as high as those in coastal areas of China. Although they have started to pilot typhoon-resistant wind turbines in some projects, they have not yet formed such a wide range of deployments and technical applications as in China.
China has not only applied typhoon technology on a large scale at home, but has also begun to export it to other typhoon-prone regions around the world. For example, Southeast Asian regions such as the Philippines and Viet Nam are also facing typhoon threats, while Chinese wind power companies, especially Mingyang Intelligent and Goldwind, are gradually exporting equipment and solutions to these countries with their typhoon-resistant wind turbine design and technology accumulation.
Floating wind power platforms are one of China's innovative technologies in the field of deep-sea wind power, especially in coastal areas where typhoons are common. Globally, only a few countries, such as the Hywind project in Norway, have deployed floating wind platforms and on a smaller scale.
In contrast, China's large-scale deployment along the southern coast and in the deep sea makes the technology extremely resilient to natural disasters such as typhoons.
In the future, with the further development of floating wind power technology and the reduction of costs, China is expected to provide this solution to more typhoon-prone regions around the world, helping other countries and regions to develop wind resources and improve their resilience to disasters.
The successful experience of China's wind power industry in dealing with natural disasters provides an important reference for the world. Particularly in typhoon-prone Southeast Asia, North America and the Western Pacific, wind developers face similar challenges as China, where technological breakthroughs and experience have shown that the damage to wind farms caused by natural disasters can be effectively reduced through specially designed typhoon-resistant wind turbines and floating platforms.
With the rapid development of the global wind power industry, disaster resilience technology will become an important consideration for the construction of wind farms in the future. China has further improved the disaster prevention capacity of wind farms through the deployment and application of intelligent wind farm management systems.
Through the Internet of Things, big data and artificial intelligence technology, the system can monitor the operating status of the wind farm in real time and automatically take preventive measures, such as stopping the wind in advance and adjusting the angle of the blades. In the run-up to a typhoon, this intelligent management system is able to respond quickly and reduce losses.
Although European and United States countries have begun to adopt similar intelligent wind farm management systems, these systems are more used to optimize operation and maintenance and improve efficiency, and preventive measures for extreme weather have not yet been applied on a large scale.
In contrast, China has deployed such smart management systems on a large scale along its typhoon-prone southern coast to ensure that wind farms can remain safe during extreme weather.
A little summary
Although the arrival of super typhoon "Capricorn" has caused losses to some wind farms in China, on the whole, China's wind power industry has made significant progress in its resilience to disasters.
Especially in the typhoon-prone southern coastal areas, the safety of China's wind farms has been greatly improved with the continuous improvement of typhoon resistance technology. Compared with other countries in the world, China is not only leading in disaster resilience technology, but also provides the world with experience and solutions that can be used for reference through floating wind power platforms and intelligent management systems.
In the future, as global climate change intensifies, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather will further increase. China's experience and technology in dealing with these natural disasters will provide an important reference for the global wind power industry.
Driven by technology exports and international cooperation, China is expected to continue to maintain its leading position in the global wind power industry, especially in the innovative application of disaster-resilient technologies.
This is not only a victory for China's wind power technology, but also means that the development of global renewable energy will usher in stronger disaster resilience and broader prospects. Through technological innovation and large-scale application, China has not only improved the disaster resilience of its wind power industry, but also provided new solutions for global climate response.