Six offshore wind power developers, including Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S (CIP) and Corio Generation, have won the bid to develop 3 gigawatts of wind energy for connection to the grid in 2026-2027, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The four other winners are Northland Power Inc (北陸能源), Synera Renewable Energy Co (風睿能源), Taiya Renewable Energy Co (台亞風能) and Skyborn Renewable Taiwan Co (天豐新能源).
Together, the six companies are to erect wind turbines in the new development zone off Changhua County and Miaoli County. That would create 10 new wind farms, the ministry said.
Photo: Lin Jing-hua, Taipei Times
Each company would be granted up to 600 megawatts (MW) in capacity, the ministry said, adding that details about the distribution of the wind farms would be finalized by the end of this year.
Orsted A/S withdrew from the auction on the Sept. 30 deadline, citing high inflation and rising interest rates. The company is the largest shareholder of Taiwan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, Formosa 1, whose capacity was extended from 8MW to 128MW in 2019.
The auction is the first part of three actions under plan as the country enters the third phase of its wind power development project, the ministry said.
That means Taiwan has formally entered a stable and healthy stage of wind power development through the release of new wind power development zones each year, it said.
Next year, the ministry plans to auction another 3 gigawatts of capacity for new offshore wind farms and another 3 gigawatts are to be developed in 2024.
Taiwan began exploring wind energy in 2012 by launching pilot projects, and wind turbines were deployed from 2017.
Asked about the “slow progress” in deploying offshore wind power, the Bureau of Energy attributed it to strong ocean currents, unfavorable weather and a labor shortage this year.
Nonetheless, about 190 wind turbines have been erected this year, close to its annual target of 200, it said.
Offshore wind power is one of its 12 major strategies in developing clean energy, the bureau said, adding that solar power is another key green energy source for Taiwan to reach its goal of making renewable energy account for 15 percent of overall electricity generation by 2025.
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