Image Credits: China Three Gorges China has installed the world’s largest offshore converter station in the South China Sea, a project designed to transmit offshore wind power to the mainland and supply around 6 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity each year once it enters commercial operation. The facility, called the “Heart of Offshore Wind,” was installed on July 23 about 100 kilometers (62 miles) off the coast of Yangjiang in Guangdong Province. The project has now entered its final stage, with subsea cable installation and offshore-onshore joint testing underway before commercial operations begin. According to China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the project is the world’s first ±500-kilovolt (kV), 2,000-megawatt (MW) flexible direct current (DC) offshore converter station. Once operational, it will transmit electricity generated by offshore wind farms to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 5 million metric tons each year. The converter station was installed in about seven hours using a “float-over” installation method because the upper platform was too heavy to be lifted by any available domestic heavy-lift vessel. The station consists of two main structures: a seven-story steel superstructure and a jacket foundation fixed to the seabed. The upper platform is 85.5 meters (280 feet) long, 82.5 meters (271 feet) wide and 44 meters (144 feet) high, with a weight of about 25,000 metric tons. It is supported by a jacket foundation measuring 82 meters (269 feet) long, 57 meters (187 feet) wide and 69 meters (226 feet) high, weighing about 17,000 metric tons. The foundation is secured to the seabed by eight piles designed to withstand strong winds, large waves, ocean currents, corrosive seawater, dense sea fog and frequent typhoons. To complete the installation, engineers used the semi-submersible heav