In offshoreWIND.biz‘s 2024 annual wind turbine overview, it was reported on the installation of a 16 MW floating wind platform offshore and the development of a 26 MW prototype in China, alongside a 21 MW model being assembled in Europe. Wind turbine generator technology continued to evolve in 2025, with Chinese OEMs leading capacity improvements. In Europe, the first offshore wind farms now feature 15 MW turbines, and a 21+ MW model was tested onshore.
In September 2025, Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC) announced the installation of a 26 MW offshore wind turbine, which the company claims is the largest globally in terms of single-unit capacity and rotor diameter.
The turbine was installed at the Wind Power Equipment Testing and Certification Innovation Base in Dongying, Shandong province, China.
This unit features a rotor diameter of 310 meters and blades 153 meters long. It stands nearly 200 meters tall with a rotor sweep of 77,000 square meters and includes advanced anti-corrosion and typhoon-resistant technology.
Composed of over 30,000 components, the turbine utilizes third-generation fully integrated semi-direct drive technology, combining the shaft system, gearbox, and generator. It is fully sealed against salt spray corrosion and features dual internal and external cooling systems.
The turbine is designed for offshore areas with medium to high wind conditions, typically exceeding 8 meters per second, according to its developer.
Dongfang states the turbine offers capacities ranging from 20 MW to 26 MW.
A few months earlier, DEC and China Huaneng, a state-owned power company, launched a new 17 MW floating offshore wind turbine prototype.
In July 2025, the partners rolled out the nacelle for this 17 MW turbine at DEC’s factory in Fujian, China.
The turbine has a rotor diameter of 262 meters and a swept area of approximately 53,000 square meters, capable of producing approximately 68 million kWh of renewable electricity annually, enough to power around 40,000 households, according to DEC.
Earlier in the year, Chinese state-owned CRRC installed what is claimed to be the world’s largest floating offshore wind turbine in Shandong Province.
On 11 January 2025, CRRC installed the 20 MW Qihang floating offshore wind turbine prototype at the Dongying wind power testing and certification innovation base in Shandong.
The Qihang floating turbine prototype has a rotor diameter of 260 meters, equivalent to seven standard football fields, and a hub height of 151 meters. Each rotation can meet a household’s electricity demand for two to four days, saving about 25,000 tonnes of coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 62,000 tonnes per year, according to CRRC.
Mingyang Smart Energy has announced plans to develop a 50 MW floating offshore wind turbine featuring a twin-head design similar to the company’s Ocean-X platform.
The turbine would utilize two 25 MW main engines supported by a V-shaped tower, akin to the Ocean-X platform, a 16.6 MW floating unit launched last year.
The turbine is intended for installation in deep waters, featuring twin 290-meter rotors.
In July last year, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) approved GE Vernova’s subsidiary Georgine Wind to build and operate a test turbine of up to 18 MW in Gulen municipality.
This project, part of a test program to advance offshore wind technology, features a turbine with a maximum tip height of 275 meters and up to 250 meters in rotor diameter, intended for up to five years of testing before providing electricity for an additional 25 years.
GE unveiled the next-generation Haliade-X turbine, with a capacity of 17-18 MW, in March 2023, but later ceased development in 2024 to focus on a 15.5/16.5 MW platform.
In 2024, GE announced plans to build a 15.5 MW prototype in Norway after receiving funding approval from Enova, a government-backed agency.
The unit approved for testing by NVE is expected to produce 55 GWh annually, equivalent to the energy consumption of approximately 2,750 Norwegian households.
On 24 April 2025, the first of 64 Vestas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines was installed at EnBW’s He Dreiht project site offshore Germany, marking its first installation at an offshore wind farm.
In summer 2025, the first Vestas 15 MW turbine was also installed at the Baltic Power offshore wind farm in Poland, developed by a joint venture between the Orlen Group and Northland Power.
Vestas installed the 15 MW prototype at the Østerild National Test Centre for large wind turbines in Western Jutland in December 2022, with the first commercial installation in 2024 at the Port of Thyborøn in Denmark, three months after the port ordered the flagship model.
Siemens Gamesa completed the installation of a 21.5 MW prototype with a 276-meter rotor at a test site in Denmark, according to media reports from the first half of 2025.
The company attracted attention in 2024 with reports of building a 21 MW offshore wind turbine prototype at the Østerild wind turbine test centre in Denmark.
In December 2024, a company spokesperson confirmed to offshoreWIND.biz that Siemens Gamesa was transporting a nacelle to the Østerild site but withheld further details.
The company confirmed the Østerild installation was a test facility partly funded by the European Commission. At the start of 2024, the wind turbine manufacturer received a EUR 30 million grant from the EU for installing, operating, and testing “the world’s most powerful wind turbine prototype” at the Østerild National Test Centre.
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