A far-reaching array of wind turbines covers the ocean. The latest offshore wind power plant funded by SPIC was connected to the national grid and began operating at full capacity on Dec 9. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

With its No 88 wind turbine fully connected to the grid, the latest 800-megawatt offshore wind power plant funded by the State Power Investment Corporation Limited, or SPIC, was connected to the national grid and ran at full capacity on Dec 9.

Located in Rudong county in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, the SPIC-funded project covers a nautical area of 130 square kilometers and is comprised of the H4# and H7# plants. Both of the two plants are equipped with 100, 4 mW wind turbines, as well as a 220-kilovolt offshore booster station and an onshore control center.

It is estimated that when it is fully commissioned and officially starts operating, the plant will generate 2.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year – enough to satisfy the energy consumption of 1 million local households – and inject enough new power into the system to guarantee the supply of energy to Jiangsu province this winter.

Every year, about 768,000 tons of standard coal is projected to be saved. Carbon dioxide emissions and sulfur dioxide emissions will be reduced by an estimated 1.6 million tons and 2,966 tons, respectively. The completion of the project is said to be conducive to promoting the transformation of Rudong's industrial and energy structures, contributing to China's goal of peak emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.

Receiving nearly 15 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) in investment from the SPIC, the project spent some 10 billion yuan in purchasing towers, wind turbines, steel pipe piles, submarine cables and other equipment, as well as construction services which were all provided by Rudong firms.

It made the most use of local supplies among the currently finished projects, making contributions to Rudong's economic development.