BEIJING -- China's farthest offshore wind power project has achieved its first grid connection, marking a significant step forward in the country's deep-sea renewable energy development, the State-owned China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) has announced.

At 3:12 am Friday, during a critical period for summer electricity demand, the first batch of units from the 800-megawatt offshore wind power project in Dafeng, East China's Jiangsu province, was successfully connected to the grid as the blades of Unit 9 began to turn, the CTGC confirmed to Xinhua on Sunday.

Located northeast of Yancheng city, the Dafeng project consists of four subsites. Subsite H8-1 is the most distant, with its center located 80 kilometers offshore and its outermost point extending to 85.5 kilometers, making it the farthest grid-connected offshore wind power project in China so far.

The wind farm comprises 98 wind turbines and three offshore booster stations, with a total installed capacity of 800 megawatts, according to the CTGC.

Discussing the major construction challenges, Shi Shuaishuai, the project manager, noted that the site is so far offshore that it takes six to seven hours by boat to reach the construction area one way.

"We faced difficulties like large ocean swells, harsh weather conditions, and seabed sediment erosion," he said, adding that the construction team often held on-site meetings to address specific issues as they arose.

"We used our self-developed meteorological warning platform to precisely identify optimal weather windows. At peak periods, over 1,000 workers were working simultaneously at sea," Shi added.

Liu Yu, another manager of the Dafeng project, said the wind farm is scheduled to achieve full-capacity grid connection by the end of December. It is expected to generate about 2.6 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, which is enough to meet the yearly power needs of approximately 1.1 million households with three members each, Liu added.

According to a National Energy Administration (NEA) report released this January, China's newly installed wind power capacity reached 79.82 million kilowatts in 2024, marking a year-on-year increase of 6 percent. This includes 75.79 million kilowatts from onshore wind and 4.04 million kilowatts from offshore wind.

By December 2024, the cumulative wind power grid-connected capacity in China reached 521 million kilowatts, reflecting an 18 percent year-on-year increase, with onshore wind contributing 480 million kilowatts and offshore wind contributing 41.27 million kilowatts, according to the NEA report.

Globally, offshore wind energy resources exceed 71 billion kilowatts, with deep-sea areas accounting for over 70 percent. However, less than 0.5 percent has been developed, despite higher potential due to average wind speeds above nine meters per second and greater power generation hours compared to near-shore sites, the CTGC said.

The Dafeng project demonstrates the feasibility of deep-sea wind power, the CTGC said, adding that the development not only provides additional green energy to support Jiangsu's economic and social growth but also holds significant importance for China's advancement into deeper offshore wind power.