Formosa I (海洋風電), Taiwan’s first offshore wind farm, is to begin commercial operations by the end of this year, according to Swancor Holding Co Ltd (上緯投控), one of the shareholders of the project.
Swancor chairman Robert Tsai (蔡朝陽) said that the phase 2 installation of 20 turbines about 6km off the Miaoli County coast has been completed and commercial operations would start by the end of this year after operating on a trial basis.
Twenty-two turbines have been installed for the Formosa 1 project. The first two, completed in phase 1 in October 2016, have a total capacity of 8 megawatts (MW).
Phase 2, which started at the end of May, but was hindered by severe weather, would add another 120MW, Tsai said.
Several foreign wind power developers are involved in phase 2 as subcontractors, including Belgium-based Jan De Nul NV and Spain-based wind farm builder Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, with input from wind power development specialists, he said.
The completion of phase 2 is a milestone for Swancor, which entered offshore wind power development in Taiwan in 2015, he said.
It also represents progress for Taiwan’s offshore wind power industry, Tsai said.
Formosa 1 is owned by Danish energy developer Orsted A/S, with a 35 percent stake; Japan-based power producer JERA Co, with a 32.5 percent stake; Macquarie Capital Ltd of Australia, with a 25 percent stake; and Taiwan’s Swancor, which owns 7 percent, the project’s Web site says.
Orsted this year received permission to develop offshore wind power in Taiwan, as the government is pushing efforts to add renewable energy sources and build an eco-friendly environment.
Orsted last month said it was planning to issue New Taiwan dollar-denominated green bonds on the local market by the end of the year to raise money for its renewable energy development here.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
RSS