Chinese power group planning to build renewable energy island

The project off the coast of Guangdong is ranked among the country’s top 10 engineering challenges

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China General Nuclear Power Group announced it will lead a tech consortium to build a man-made island connected to offshore wind turbines to generate, store and use renewable energy. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 2:00pm, 30 Nov 2024

A state-owned energy conglomerate is leading a tech consortium to build an offshore “integrated energy island” in southern China, a green power project regarded by scientists as one of the country’s 10 most challenging engineering projects this year.

China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) announced a plan on November 22 to build the integrated facility that aims to experiment with deep-sea renewable energy off the coast of Guangdong province, according to the state-run China News Services.

China has been focusing on the sea as a means to derive green energy from offshore wind power and floating solar farms, as well as freeing up scarce land resources.

But it is becoming necessary to take the offshore facilities further into the ocean to avoid obstructing key shipping lanes, ports and fisheries.

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China’s largest photothermal power facility drives development of new form of energy

Chinese researchers have been evaluating the possibility of building deep-sea integrated energy islands as part of its renewable energy strategy.

The massive man-made island would be connected to large deep-sea offshore wind turbines. It would store and use the electricity generated for seawater desalination, hydrogen and hydrogen-based derivative productions, which could be shipped back to the mainland as clean fuel.