CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday said its pin-pile contract with Danish energy company Orsted A/S would not be affected by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ proposal to cut the preliminary feed-in tariff (FIT) for offshore wind power developers, which was announced on Thursday.
“So far, no developer told us that they need to reconsider their procurement, and the contract we have signed should remain valid,” CSBC president Tseng Kuo-cheng (曾國正) told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview.
Pin piles are a key component, as the jacket foundation, which supports the turbine, is anchored into the seabed with three 90m-long pin piles, CSBC data showed.
CSBC, the nation’s only listed shipbuilder, signed a contract with Orsted in October to manufacture the pin piles for the developer’s wind farm project in Changhua County, Tseng said.
After the ministry proposed cutting the FIT by 12.7 percent to NT$5.1060 per per kilowatt hour, Orsted said that the new tariff scheme would affect the procurement agreements it has inked with local partners.
However, CSBC said the prices in its contract were fixed, Tseng said.
The firm plans to deliver 60 pin piles, weighing more than 20,000 tonnes, by March next year, Tseng said, adding that the firm has invested in a new production line in its factory near the Port of Kaohsiung.
CSBC said that production of its first 140m-long accommodation barge, which began in July, would not be affected by the cut.
The firm said the production is expected to be finished by May next year, and it plans to have a price ready for developers in the second half of next year.
CSBC shares dropped 3.51 percent to NT$28.85 yesterday.
Other firms involved in offshore wind farms also plunged in Taipei trading, with Swancor Holding Co Ltd (上緯投控) shares dropping 3.07 percent to NT$66.3, and Century Iron & Steel Industrial Co (世紀鋼構) dropping 0.59 percent to NT$67.8.
China Steel Corp (中鋼) shares rose 0.63 percent, but its subsidiary China Steel Structure Corp (中鋼結構) saw its shares sink 2.11 percent.
Swancor and Century Iron were affected more by the news, as wind farm projects occupy a larger part of their revenue than their peers, equity analyst Daniel Sun (孫慶龍) said.
China Steel was not affected wind farm projects make up less than 1 percent of its revenue, Sun said.
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