Materials manufacturer and wind farm developer Swancor Holding Co Ltd (上緯) yesterday said it plans to secure NT$16 billion to NT$17 billion (US$546.1 million to US$580.2 million) in project financing from banks in the second quarter of this year to fund ongoing offshore wind farm projects.
“The money will ensure sufficient capital for Formosa I Wind Power Co (海洋風電公司) to add extra capacity of 120 megawatts by installing 20 turbines next year,” Swancor chairman and president Robert Tsai (蔡朝陽) told a media briefing in Taipei.
Formosa I, which began commercial production last year, operates two offshore wind turbines with a combined capacity of 8 megawatts in Miaoli County.
Swancor is also working on another two offshore wind farms, Formosa II (海能風電) and Formosa III (海鼎風電), which are expected to become operational in 2020 and 2025 respectively, with planned capacity of nearly 500 megawatts and 2 gigawatts respectively.
Apart from seeking financial support, the firm is also partnering with Sydney-based Macquarie Capital Ltd and EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG, one of the largest electricity utilities in Germany, to develop its wind energy business.
As part of the collaboration, EnBW has agreed to acquire a 37.5 percent stake in Formosa III, marking the German company’s first investment in offshore wind power outside of Europe.
“EnBW has learned much from our offshore wind projects in the Baltic and North seas, and hopes to bring those experiences to Taiwan,” EnBW senior manager Bernd Horstmann said at the briefing.
Apart from its new energy business, Swancor is also upbeat about its resin business this year, as the company anticipates increasing orders from one of its major customers, Goldwind Science and Technology Co (金風科技), China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer.
In 2015, Swancor was one of the most important resin suppliers to Goldwind with a 58 percent share, but its share slid to less than 20 percent in 2016 after the company failed to pass the Chinese company’s certification process, according to Swancor data.
The company said it aims to secure a 23 percent share of Goldwind’s resin orders this year, compared with 15 percent last year.
In addition, Swancor said it is likely to enter the supply chain of another major Chinese wind turbine manufacturer in the first half of the year, further expanding its customer base.
Swancor said it also expects to join the US wind turbine supply chain this year, but the company declined to elaborate.
The company reported revenue of NT$215 million last month, down 35.03 percent year-on-year, with combined revenue for the first two months totaling NT$661 million, up 16.77 percent from the same period the previous year.
Swancor shares closed unchanged at NT$77.8 in Taipei trading yesterday.
The shares have fallen 6.49 percent so far this year.
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