A Chinese offshore wind power facility, incorporating 11 wind turbine units in Pingtan, east China's Fujian Province, has been fully connected to the grid and started generating electricity, said its operator China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) on Sunday.

The wind farm is built about 35 kilometers offshore at a depth of about 40 meters.

Among the 11 offshore wind turbine units is the world's largest 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine unit, which was connected to the national grid and went into operation in July. 

The installed capacity of the wind farm totals 111 megawatts.

It will generate around 360 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, equivalent to that generated by burning 103,800 tonnes of standard coal, leading to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by about 283,800 tonnes annually. 

Thanks to its location, Pingtan is rich in wind energy resource.

To select the proper site for offshore wind turbines, the CTG's wind resources evaluation team has built an offshore wind resource database with high spatial-temporal resolution and long time series, which can conduct comprehensive analysis of wind energy resources at any location in China's sea area, Liu Jianping, deputy general manager of CTG Fujian, told Science and Technology Daily.

The system can also analyze the real-time features of wind resources from multiple dimensions, and estimate the power generation, said Liu. 

It helped the team get a better understanding of the country's offshore wind resources and ultimately determine the site of the 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine unit, Liu added.