China: World's largest high altitude wind farm at 18,000 feet powers on

China welcomed the New Year by bringing online the world's largest ultra high altitude wind farm project. The 25 turbine project is located in Nagqu town in the Xizang Autonomous Region at an altitude of 15,256 feet (4,650 m). China is already home to the , which became operational last year. Built in the Sichuan province, the project is located at a high altitude and is expected to save 600,000 tonnes of coal from being burnt to meet the region's energy demands.

The Asian country has now leveraged its experience of constructing at high altitudes and low oxygen environments to build the world's largest ultra high altitude wind farm as it looks to reduce its fossil fuel consumption by over 80 percent by 2060. According to China Energy Investment Corporation (China Energy), a wind farm built between 11,480 and 18,000 feet (3,500 to 5,500 m) is classified as an ultra high altitude project.

World's highest wind farm Although China is well known for installing the world's largest wind turbines, the location of the project brought unprecedented challenges such as low efficiency of wind energy conversion and deceleration of turbine blades, . The developers of the project took into account these challenges early on and used a smart wind power platform for making accurate measurements of winds and selecting appropriate sites.

Data from the platform was utilized to develop the design of the wind farm, the report added. The 25 turbine project extends over 1.5 million square feet (140,000 square meters) and has a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW). Electricity generated from the farm will annually meet the energy needs of 230,000 residents of Nagqu City without emitting carbon.

A test bed for future projects The ultra high altitude project is also a test bed for similar projects that the country might take up in the future. Apart from meeting the design requirements of the farm, the project also needed the turbines to be made of exceptionally high quality. The high altitude terrain exposes the turbines to elements such as wind, sand, rain, and snow as well as drastic changes in temperature and exposure to UV rays.

These can lead to erosion of the blade, and the team had to work on improving the build of the turbines. Personnel at the wind farm told the media that they had also used a special technique to spray paint the blades that prevented it from turning too dry, a feature which is expected to help slow erosion.

The project also saw the use of "stability control technology" to overcome issues of low efficiency of wind conversion. Before operationalization on the first day of the new year, the turbines were debugged and collector lines charged. Once the farm reaches full capacity, it will be connected to the grid.

Greener means of generating power are critical in global flight against climate change. China, which has traditionally relied on its abundantly available coal is also looking at to meet its energy requirements when wind and solar farms see a dip in power generation..