China has made a breakthrough in key technology by building its first gas turbine for offshore oil and gas rigs.

The gas turbine, named Taihang-7, was launched on Sunday inside the Lufeng 8-1 floating oil and gas platform on the South China Sea, about 180 kilometers southeast from Shenzhen City.

It is China's first self-designed gas turbine that has been put into operation on the sea.

Gas turbines are the power source of offshore rigs. The Taihang-7's capacity reached 7 megawatts. It can generate over 5 megawatt-hours of electricity in just one hour, which is equivalent to the daily power usage of 500 families.

What's more, the turbine generates nearly 80,000 tonnes less carbon dioxide each year compared with imported equipment of the same specs.

"Now we have connected the Lufeng 8-1 platform to the grid of the whole oil field," said Yue Zongling, director of the platform. "This platform has become the core of the grid."

Designed in China

The engineers behind the Taihang-7 introduced new concepts to the design of the machine, enabling it to run on both diesel and gas. The gas turbine is the world's first of its kind to have dual-fuel capabilities.

"It is about 15 percent cheaper than imported generators," said Gao Shuang, deputy manager of the Deepwater Engineering Center at the Shenzhen branch of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. "The maintenance cost will also be greatly reduced."

One of the designers told China Media Group that they invented hundreds of new technologies, processes, standards and materials during the making of the Taihang-7.

China has built three types of light gas turbines, namely Taihang-7, 15 and 25, and one type of heavy turbine, the Taihang-110. The country has established the whole industry chain of building such turbines.

"We have been designing gas turbines with our own intellectual properties based on the technology of space engines," said Zhao Yong, chief designer of the gas turbine. "Many of China's best energy projects are using our products."