Swancor Holding Co Ltd (上緯) and Wpd Taiwan Energy Co Ltd (達德能源) on Wednesday secured purchase power agreements (PPA) with Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), allowing them to sell wind power to the state-run utility at a feed-in tariff of NT$5.8 per kilowatt-hour for the next 20 years.
In cooperation with Macquarie Capital, Swancor Holding signed an agreement for its Formosa 2 offshore wind farm, which has a total installed capacity of 376 megawatts (MW), while Wpd Taiwan inked one for its wind farm in the waters off Yunlin County, which has a total installed capacity of 640MW, according to Taipower data.
“So far, only the two companies have received a permit from the Bureau of Energy, which is key for developers if they aim to ink a PPA with Taipower,” Taipower spokesman Hsu Tsao-hua (徐造華) told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday.
Other developers have submitted documents to Taipower, but they lack the permit, Hsu said.
Formosa 2, which is off the coast of Miaoli County, is scheduled to start generating power by 2020, Swancor said.
The firm plans to begin construction in 2020, Swancor said, adding that Formosa 2 would generate enough power for 380,000 households per year.
In the the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ (MOEA) selection process earlier this year, the Yunlin wind farm is divided into two parts, both of which should produce 320MW of power, Wpd Taiwan said, adding that the first part would begin generating power in 2020 and the second in 2021.
The firm plans to begin construction next year, Wpd Taiwan said.
The firm would choose to operate under the tiered feed-in tariff scheme, which is to be canceled next year, according to the ministry’s proposal, Wpd Taiwan said.
Under the tiered feed-in tariff scheme, developers are paid at a higher rate for the first 10 years, with the rate tapering off for 10 years after that.
“It is no surprise that the two firms received the PPA the first, since they were selected by the MOEA to develop wind farms by 2020, which is the earliest stage,” one developer said on condition of anonymity. “The real question is if other developers can also get NT$5.8 per kilowatt-hour.”
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