ConocoPhillips China (COPC) and CNOOC have announced the commencement of the Penglai offshore wind farm pilot project in China.

The project’s clean energy will supply power to the Penglai oilfield, China’s largest offshore oil and gas production base under the production sharing contract, located in Bohai Bay, northeast China.

Featuring four wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 34 MW, the Penglai offshore wind farm pilot project is connected to the existing central processing platform via subsea cables, distributing energy to the field’s power grid system.

At full capacity, the wind farm will have the potential to cover over 30 per cent of the power needed for the Penglai oilfield’s operations and could achieve tens of thousands of tonnes of annual CO2 reductions.

“This pilot project represents a first-of-its-kind integration of offshore wind power being harnessed solely for offshore oil and gas facilities in China. We believe it will become a benchmark for future low carbon emission offshore oilfield developments”, said Bill Arnold, President of COPC.

According to COPC, the newly launched wind farm project offers an optimal solution in meeting the Penglai oilfield’s power demand, which is expected to increase year by ear as development continues.

In addition to offshore wind power, the two companies are evaluating opportunities in power from shore, as well as carbon capture and storage (CSS) and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS).

If proven to be technically and economically viable, these low-carbon solutions will help transform Penglai towards a net-zero offshore oilfield which is in line with China’s energy, sustainable development, and carbon neutrality goals, COPC said.

China currently accounts for 45 per cent of the world’s installed offshore wind capacity, after connecting 12.7 GW of new offshore wind farms to its grid last year, according to the figures recently published by World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO).