MHI Vestas has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with four prestigious Taiwanese companies: CSMC (towers), Tien Li (blade manufacturing), Swancor (composites/resins), and Formosa Plastics Corporation (materials for blade manufacturing).
“The Taiwan offshore wind market has impressively put itself in a front-runner position in the region. Having the benefit of early selection of a portfolio of projects allows us to enter into these manufacturing agreements with great confidence,” said Philippe Kavafyan, MHI Vestas incoming CEO.
MHI Vestas has signed China Steel Machinery Corporation (CSMC), an established leader in steel manufacturing, to provide towers for the 9 MW turbine platform on offer in Taiwan. The production will be based in Kaohsiung.
Formosa Plastics Corporation (FPC), one of the world’s largest chemical manufacturing companies, was signed by MHI Vestas to provide materials for blade manufacturing.
MHI Vestas has signed Swancor, a market-leading company in environmental protection and safety, to supply composites and resins for the blade manufacturing process.
Tien Li, an industrial leader in blade manufacturing, has been selected by MHI Vestas to handle production of the company’s turbine blades. The blades will be produced in Taichung.
Other investors in Taiwan offshore wind market include DONG Energy, which in January 2017 invested in Taiwan’s first offshore wind farm, the 120-megawatt Formosa 1 project set to be developed by local company Swancor Renewable, and also supported by Macquarie Capital.
Recently, European wind power plant management specialist OutSmart joined forces with Taiwan Offshore Wind Farm Services Corp (TOWSC) to target the offshore market on the Asian island. The partners will offer an integrated digital power plant management system for offshore wind.
And Renewables Consulting Group completed formation of a business entity in Taiwan, The Renewables Consulting Group, including approvals with the Investment Commission of The Ministry of Economic Affairs, and other legal and regulatory steps required to do business in Taiwan.
Orsted signed its first manufacturing contract in Taiwan for a jacket foundation transition piece mock-up to be built by Century Wind Power. The structure is scheduled to be delivered in the second half of the year.
Also, Siemens Gamesa signed an MoU with local developer Swancor for the Formosa 2 offshore wind farm in Taiwan. The companies also agreed in an MoU to explore ways to develop more local content in the Taiwan offshore wind sector.
MAKE, a market intelligence company, states Taiwan leads a host of Asian markets that will see heavy investment in offshore wind development, according to WindTech International.
Offshore wind will comprise more than 25 percent of new capacity in Japan and South Korea over a 10-year period and a staggering 96 percent of new capacity for Taiwan.
Excluding China, the offshore sector in Asia will achieve a compounded annual growth rate of 45 percent over the period, averaging more than 1.7 gigawatts of new capacity per year from 2022 to 2027.
Recently, Taiwan raised its offshore wind power generation target from 3.5 gigawatts to 5.5 gigawatts by 2025, with total investment estimated at about $33.04 billion, according to Overseas Community Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan). The increase in the offshore wind power was decided in early January when the Cabinet approved an amendment to the Renewable Energy Development Act.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will select projects generating 0.5 gigawatts of power to be commissioned by 2020, 3 gigawatts of projects to become operational from 2021-2025 and 2 gigawatts of projects will be decided by auction.
