China's largest wind turbine installation vessel, the "Longyuan Zhenhua 3", could boost international cooperation in the South China Sea, experts said Sunday.
The vessel, which went into trial service on Sunday in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu Province, has a lifting capacity of 2,000 tons, making it the largest of this kind in the world, currently, news site people.cn reported.
"This is different from land operations, since offshore operations encounter tougher conditions, requiring higher standards for the equipment," Zhou Dadi, vice-director of the National Development and Reform Commission's China Energy Research Society, told the Global Times.
"The 'Longyuan Zhenhua 3' has greater power than previous Chinese vessels, which means higher lifting and bigger capacity," Zhou explained.
Offshore wind turbine installations are mature in China and the "Longyuan Zhenhua 3" can be used in the South China Sea, a region that has abundant wind resources, Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow at the National Institute for the South China Sea, told the Global Times on Sunday.
The vessel could provide energy supplies for vehicles passing by the region and boost international cooperation, Chen noted.
Many of the Southeast Asian countries have abundant wind resources but lack the technology to make full use of that clean energy, and China could share the technology, he added.
However, Zhou does not share the enthusiasm about the vessel's use in the South China Sea, saying that "various kinds of offshore vessels are available in the South China Sea and the 'Longyuan Zhenhua 3' is not the only wind turbine installation vessel."
The vessel is a product of Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), specially designed for the high-power offshore wind-turbine market, reaching higher than 6 megawatts, according to people.cn.
It is 100.8 meters long, 43.2 meters wide, and has a draft of 8.4 meters and it can work at depths of up to 50 meters, making it a leader in China at present, China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported on Saturday.
Work on the new vessel began in 2016 and was completed in June 2017. It is ZPMC's third wind turbine installation vessel and their latest project was a two-turbine installation job at the Formosa 1 offshore wind farm, CGTN reported.
