With the operational launch of the 1 GW HG14 offshore photovoltaic project, China has touched a significant milestone in renewable energy expansion. This is the world’s largest open-sea offshore solar power facility, which has been fully commissioned off the coast of Dongying in Shandong province. Developed by Guohua Investment, a subsidiary of China Energy Investment Corp. (CHN Energy), the plant received its full-capacity grid connection in late December 2025.
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Spread across approximately 1,223 hectares of shallow coastal waters, approximately 8 km from the shoreline, the project is situated in sea depths ranging from 1 metre to 4 metres. It is China’s first gigawatt-scale offshore solar installation based on a fixed-pile foundation, and also the first offshore PV project approved under the country’s national three-dimensional sea-use rights framework.
Total investment in the project is reported at about CNY 8.1 billion (USD 1.2 billion).
At the heart of HG14 are 2,934 steel photovoltaic platforms, each measuring 60 metres by 35 metres. Anchored by 11736 steel piles driven into the seabed, these structures are extremely sturdy and designed with a fixed pile configuration to withstand harsh marine conditions, such as waves, tides, strong winds, and occasional sea ice. The design configuration also addresses core engineering challenges alongside offshore solar deployment across the northern coastal regions.
Featuring more than 2.3 million n-type bifacial solar modules, each rated at 710 W and installed at a 15-degree tilt, the power plant is one of its kind. According to project data, the offshore environment boosts power generation efficiency by between 5 per cent and 15 per cent compared with similar land-based systems, benefiting from cooler operating temperatures and the reflective properties of the sea surface.
With a 66 kV subsea cable network linked to onshore cabling the electricity is transmitted and fed into a 220 kV substation. To support grid reliability and operational flexibility, the project also includes a co-located energy storage system with a capacity of 100 MW/200 MWh. The transmission configuration is reported to lift capacity by around 20 per cent while cutting unit transmission costs by approximately 15 per cent .
On an annual basis, HG14 is expected to produce about 1.78 TWh of electricity. This output is sufficient to cover 60 per cent of the power demand in Dongying’s Kenli district. From an environmental perspective, the project will reduce 1.34 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year and cut down coal consumption by more than 500,000 tonnes.
Beyond electricity generation, the project adopts a “PV above, farming below”, aquaculture model, enabling marine cultivation beneath the solar arrays while optimising sea space use and creating additional revenue streams.
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