China has proved to be one of the planet’s strongest trailblazers in the field of wind energy (while simultaneously doubling down on its massive reliance on coal, the most polluting of all fossil fuels). The East Asian giant host the world’s largest wind turbine, as well as the world's largest wind farm complex, but it’s not the only beholder of wind energy records.

Where is the world's biggest wind turbine?

The largest wind turbine can be found off the coast of China’s Fujian Province in the Taiwan Strait. Known as the MingYang Smart Energy (MySE) 16-260 turbine, its central rotator hub stands at a height of 152 meters (500 feet) tall, with each single blade measuring 123 meters (403 feet) – the length of two football fields. Combining the rotor hub and its two blades, the turbine has a total diameter of 260 meters (853 feet).

With each sweep of its massive blades, an area of 50,000 square meters (nearly 540,000 square feet) is covered. This captures a huge amount of energy. The giant turbine was fully installed in July 2023 and is set to generate 66 million kWh of clean electricity each year, enough to meet the annual needs of 36,000 households. 

The MySE 16-260's debut in July 2023 reportedly knocked off the previous record-holder by 8 meters (26 feet), which was set by China just weeks before. 

Prior to this, the record-holder of the largest wind turbine in operation was the General Electric Haliade-X, which swirls near the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Built in October 2019, this behemoth has a rotor diameter of 220 meters (721 feet).

Where is the world's biggest wind farm?

The largest wind farm complex is also in China, known as the Gansu Wind Farm Project or the Jiuquan Wind Power Base. Located in desert areas of Gansu province in Northwest China, it reportedly plans to house 7,000 wind turbines. Strictly speaking, however, the Gansu Wind Farm Project is a complex of multiple different wind farms. It sits on the outskirts of the Gobi desert, an arid plain of land that sees some of the strongest and most prevailing winds in China. 

In terms of the largest single offshore wind farm, that record is currently held by Hornsea 2, located in the North Sea around 89 kilometers (55.3 miles) off the coast of Yorkshire, England. It consists of 165 Siemens Gamesa 8MW turbines, which aim to generate enough energy to power more than 1.4 million homes annually in the UK.

Where is the world's biggest freshwater wind turbine?

There is also the record for the largest freshwater wind farm in the world. That record is currently in the possession of Windpark Fryslân, situated in the northern part of the Netherlands’ Ijsselmeer Lake, an inland bay that connects to the North Sea. This wind farm comprises 89 turbines and provides enough electricity for some 500,000 households each year. 

Inevitably more records to come

Bear in mind, all of these records are subject to change. As part of the push away from polluting fossil fuels, the world is massively ramping up its wind energy production and numerous large wind farm projects are in the works. Stay tuned...