Chaozhou, China to build world’s largest offshore wind farm

by Peter Schulte

The city of Chaozhou, located in China’s southeastern Guangdong province, has released formal plans for a massive 43 GW offshore wind farm in the strait of Taiwan. The renewables complex will almost certainly be the world’s largest wind farm when completed, generating more electricity than all of the power plants in Norway combined. By comparison, the world’s current largest wind farm, also in China, has a capacity of 8 GW and there is currently about 54 GW of offshore wind power total in the entire world.

Chaozhou’s ambitious plan is just one piece of an impressive pipeline of recent wind projects in the East Asian nation. In 2021, China connected more offshore wind energy alone (17 GW) than all other countries combined. China now accounts for about 40% of the world’s 824 GW installed wind capacity and roughly half of its offshore wind capacity.

Chaozhou’s investment offers more evidence that renewables are not only economically viable but poised to grow exponentially in the years to come, offering critical momentum in the transition to a decarbonized economy. The city plans to begin construction no later than 2025.