CHN Energy’s 1-gigawatt offshore photovoltaic (PV) project in Kenli District, east China’s Shandong Province, successfully connected its first batch of PV units to the grid on Wednesday.

The project, being the first and largest of its kind in the world, was developed by CHN Energy’s Guohua Energy Investment Co., Ltd. and will serve as a model for the development of large-scale offshore PV projects in the industry.

Aerial view of Guohua Energy Investment’s 1-gigawatt offshore PV project in Kenli, Shandong

Located 8 kilometers off the eastern coast of Dongying City in Shandong Province, the project covers an area of approximately 1,223 hectares with a total installed capacity of 1 gigawatt. This globally pioneering initiative features 2,934 PV platforms installed using large-scale offshore steel truss platform fixed pile foundations. Each platform measures 60 meters in length and 35 meters in width. Notably, this project marks the first time in China that a 66-kilovolt offshore cable paired with an onshore cable has been used for high-capacity, long-distance transmission in the PV sector.

Installation of a single platform at the project site

Upon completion, the project is expected to generate 1.78 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually, enough to meet the needs of approximately 2.67 million urban residents in China. This is equivalent to saving an estimated 503,800 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3447 million tons. Additionally, the project utilizes an integrated fishing and PV development model, combining fish farming with PV power generation to enhance the comprehensive utilization of the marine area.

The first box-type transformer, fully commissioned, at the project