UK-based Corio Generation and French-based TotalEnergies, two of the world’s leading offshore wind and renewable energy developers, have signed a joint venture to develop Formosa 3 offshore wind farms in Taiwan, after Japan-based power producer Jera Co put its stake in the project up for sale.
Corio chief executive officer Jonathan Cole welcomed the deal in a statement yesterday, and said the Formosa 3 project should bring economic benefits and jobs to the nation as it endeavors to transition from fossil fuels to green energy sources.
Vincent Stoquart, senior vice president of TotalEnergies’ Renewables Division, touted the partnership as “a new step toward supporting Taiwan’s energy transition, bringing sustainable, low-cost energy.”
Photo: Lin Jing-hua, Taipei Times
Under the agreement, Corio is to be the majority shareholder and lead developer with 50 percent plus 10 shares in the overall project.
“We are thrilled to welcome TotalEnergies as our partner in building offshore wind farms in Taiwan. Our two companies have a longstanding relationship and strong track record in developing projects across Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and so we are absolutely delighted to be working together again in Taiwan,” Cole said.
The Formosa 3 project, comprising the Haiding 1, 2 and 3 wind farms, passed an environmental impact assessment in 2018 with an approved capacity of 2 gigawatts.
The Bureau of Energy in December last year announced that the Haiding 2 wind farm had been awarded 600 megawatts (MW) of grid capacity following the first phase of round three auctions.
“The wind farm development is expected to contribute to Taiwan’s ambitious plans for green energy transition, and represents a multibillion [dollar] investment from the partners and project lenders up to the end of construction,” Corio said in the statement.
“Future investments will be made in proportion to the partners’ project shareholdings,” it said, adding that the agreement must first be approved by government agencies.
Nikkei Asia on Friday last week reported that Jera, which holds a 44 percent stake in Formosa, was pulling out of the project due to “worsening profitability” amid “simmering geopolitical risks around the Taiwan Strait.”
However, a Ministry of Economic Affairs official said that Jera used that public reasoning to cover for its lack of confidence in Formosa 3’s ability to meet investment return expectations.
The official said that Jera might have pulled its other Taiwanese offshore wind farm investments if the political tensions were a legitimate factor.
Jera holds respective 32.5 percent and 49 percent stakes in Formosa 1 (128MW), which began operations in 2019, and Formosa 2 (376MW), which is scheduled to begin operations this year.
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