China's Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd. unveiled plans for the world's largest offshore wind turbine Aug. 20, pulling in front of European and U.S. rivals with a 16-MW machine as the pursuit for greater scale in the market shows no signs of slowing.

The giant MySE 16.0-242 turbine places Ming Yang ahead of the big three Western manufacturers — Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA and General Electric Co. — whose largest offerings, announced since May 2020, are 14 MW or 15 MW.

The machine boasts a 242-meter rotor diameter — spanning almost twice the height of the London Eye — and 118-meter blades, Ming Yang said in a news release. A single turbine will be able to generate 80,000 MWh of power each year, enough for 20,000 households, the company said.

"The launch of our new largest wind turbine ... is an apt illustration of the three essential drivers to technology evolution: demand, combination and iteration," Qiying Zhang, president and chief technology officer at Ming Yang, said in a statement.

The size of offshore wind turbines has grown rapidly in recent years as manufacturers seek to find ways to reduce capital expenditure on projects and maximize returns for developers.

Until Ming Yang's announcement, Vestas and Siemens Gamesa were co-leaders in terms of supersized offerings. Vestas launched a new 15-MW turbine in February that put it ahead of General Electric's 14-MW Haliade-X turbine and on par with Siemens Gamesa's largest model, announced in 2020.

Ming Yang turbines accounted for 12.8% of total offshore wind capacity installed globally in 2020, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The company is sixth in the world based on total offshore wind market share, with China being its biggest market.

The new giant turbine represents a "big quantum leap" for China, where the bulk of offshore turbines are only 5 MW or 6 MW in size, Shashi Barla, principal analyst on global wind supply chain and technology at Wood Mackenzie, said in an interview.

That could suggest the new machine is geared more toward international expansion. The company said it is hoping to serve customers in mature offshore wind markets including Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

Ming Yang is already the first Chinese manufacturer to supply turbines for a European offshore wind farm, having recently completed the delivery of 10 machines to a 30-MW project in Italy, industry news website ReNews reported Aug. 16.

"Competition will remain intensive in mature markets, but this Italian project will give them the chance to showcase their technology," Feng Zhao, head of market intelligence and strategy at the Global Wind Energy Council, said in an interview.

While displacing the big three Western manufacturers will be difficult in Europe, given the companies' long track records, there could be opportunities for Ming Yang in upcoming renewable energy subsidy auctions, including in the U.K., especially where Chinese bidders are participating.

"There will be Chinese developers that are going to bid into the U.K. [contracts for difference] auctions, and if the Chinese developers are successful, then Ming Yang will certainly be a key contender to supply turbines to those projects," Wood Mackenzie's Barla said.

Being overtaken by Ming Yang in terms of turbine scale will push Western manufacturers to innovate further, Zhao said. Vestas and Siemens Gamesa declined to comment on the news.

"It's not something that the Western turbine [manufacturers] have to be scared about, per se," Barla said. "But they certainly would be cognizant of the fact that Chinese [companies] are trying to eat into their market share."