Wpd Taiwan Energy Co Ltd (達德能源), the local subsidiary of Germany-based Wpd Group, on Wednesday said it is to receive about NT$82.5 billion (US$2.83 billion) in project financing from 12 domestic banks to develop offshore wind farms.
The company has received substantial support from local lenders, including two state-run banks, Wpd Taiwan chairwoman Yuni Wang (王雲怡) said at a workshop in Taipei.
The financing project marks Wpd Taiwan as the first operator of offshore wind farms to secure funding from state-owned financial services providers, the company said.
State-run banks are generally more conservative about investing in businesses that develop offshore wind power, especially after the high-profile loan fraud involving Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船), Wang said.
Wpd Taiwan could secure the support of state-owned lenders because the company has been working on energy projects in Taiwan for more than 10 years, she said.
The NT$82.5 billion fund, which makes up about 81 percent of the wind power financing project, has the highest participation of Taiwanese banks compared with projects advanced by other wind farm operators in Taiwan, she said.
Local participants include Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), CTBC Bank (中信銀行) and E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行).
A total of 39 investors have expressed interest in joining the financing project, including 12 foreign banks and 15 foreign financial institutions, Wpd Taiwan said.
The firm, which aims to develop an offshore wind farm in Taoyuan and one in Yunlin, is to join a selection process for offshore wind farm projects held by the Ministry of Economic Affairs next month.
The Executive Yuan has set a target of 0.52 gigawatts of installed capacity at offshore wind farms by 2020.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
RSS