A prototype of the turbine will be installed in a wind farm in Nantong, in east China's Jiangsu province, for testing late this year. Dongfang hopes to sell the machine to the overseas, as well as, domestic market.
It is one of the first times the US firm has spoken about co-designing a turbine with a Chinese manufacturer since its fallout with Sinovel last year.
Rudong demo
The second machine is being developed by CSIC Haizhuang. The company has launched a 5MW offshore wind turbine at its manufacturing plant in south-west China's Chongqing city. It is going to install the prototype at the Rudong demonstration offshore wind farm, in east China's Jiangsu province.
Yang says the company has spent three years developing the turbine alongside Dutch engineering firm Mecal, KK-Electronic from Denmark, and German offshore specialist Lehnhoff Consulting.
The turbine features large bearings, gearbox, high-speed permanent magnetic generator, and full power converter. The turbine head, with compact structure, is 15% lighter than other 5MW turbines. The turbine is suitable in 90% of Chinese wind farms, both onshore and offshore, says Yang.
The standout feature is its 75-metre blades equaling the world's longest with Siemens' upcoming 6MW machine. CSIC would not confirm the manufacturer of the blades and only says that they are made by a subsidiary. It refused to give further details about the company or how long it had been making wind turbine components. However, LM Wind Power said it had been in discussion with CSIC although its largest blade is the 73-metre version.
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