CNOOC relies on innovation to drive green progress.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China’s largest offshore oil and gas drilling company, announced that it has successfully converted a drilling rig into an offshore wind‑power construction and installation platform for the first time, thereby gaining valuable experience to support future offshore wind‑energy projects.

The vessel, known as the Huyu Offshore Wind Power Construction and Installation Platform, provided support for the installation of its first offshore wind turbine on November 7. Guangdong Electric Power Engineering Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Energy Engineering Group.

The wind turbine on this drilling platform is installed in 50-meter-deep waters and can generate 8 megawatts of electricity.

Analysts say this initiative represents an innovative move by state-owned enterprises in the new-energy sector.

Zi Wangyue, an analyst at the research firm BloombergNEF, stated that CNOOC’s efforts to develop offshore wind power are aligned with the government’s push to promote renewable energy.

The China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, a think tank affiliated with China’s National Energy Administration, stated that, driven by declining costs and supportive government policies, the domestic wind and solar industries are poised for robust growth between 2020 and 2030.

CNOOC has ambitious plans in the wind and solar energy sectors, aiming to allocate 5% to 10% of its annual capital investment to these businesses each year, with the goal of achieving significant breakthroughs in wind and solar power during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. According to CNOOC Chairman Wang Dongjin, this strategy will be implemented throughout the plan’s five-year span (2021–2025).

As the offshore wind power segment aligns with the company’s overall business strategy, CNOOC can leverage its resources in offshore engineering and its extensive experience in offshore operations. The company plans to prioritize offshore wind power and strengthen its new‑energy business.

CNOOC’s first batch of wind turbines along the coast of Jiangsu Province was connected to the grid and began generating power at the end of last year, with a total installed capacity of 300 megawatts.

It first entered the offshore wind power business in 2006 but withdrew shortly thereafter. A year later, the company began operating China’s first offshore wind farm, located in Liaodong Bay of the Bohai Sea, with each turbine having a capacity of 1.5 megawatts.

It resumed offshore wind power operations in 2019, and the Jiangsu project is its first offshore wind project since then.

As China has pledged to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, the company has been shifting its focus from fossil fuels to new energy businesses.

Wang said the company will allocate 10% of its annual budget to green energy by the end of the current five-year plan, up from 5% this year. It also aims to generate half of its renewable-energy business’s annual revenue by 2050.

Wang stated that investments in new energy will be primarily directed toward solar and offshore wind projects, while the company will also explore offshore carbon capture and storage.

He said that in the latter part of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, investment in new energy will increase further.

(From ChinaDaily)