Ørsted Begins Construction at 900 MW Offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan

With all the permits and approvals in place, Ørsted is moving ahead with construction of the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farms

With all the permits and EIA approvals in place, global offshore wind leader Ørsted has announced that it is moving full speed ahead with full-scale offshore construction activities of the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms. The firm will begin laying export and array cables and installing the offshore substations and foundations in 2021 and will proceed with wind turbine installation next year.

Located 35-60 km off the coast of Changhua County, the first large-scale and farshore offshore wind farms in Taiwan is scheduled to be finalised by 2022 and will provide clean energy to one million households.

Ørsted has kicked off the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to prepare for cable laying and scour protection works to make the seabed ready for foundation installation. Moreover, the firm is progressing well with onshore construction, including completing the civil works of the two onshore substation main buildings and the upgrade work of the hinterland at wharfs 36 and 37 at the Port of Taichung for storing key components for offshore installation.

Matthias Bausenwein, President of Ørsted Asia-Pacific, said “Ørsted’s vision is to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. With 30 years of experience and an end-to-end business model of developing, constructing, and operating offshore wind farms, Ørsted has been committed since day one to helping Taiwan build first world-class offshore wind farms to provide clean energy and contribute to its energy transition goal. The commencement of offshore installation of the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms signify a landmark step towards achieving that goal of making Taiwan greener.”

The firm has also been awarded the right to build the 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b & 4 Offshore Wind Farms in June 2018 and signed a corporate power purchase agreement with Taiwan-based Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) in July 2020. The Greater Changhua 2b & 4 Offshore Wind Farms will be operational in 2025 and fully commissioned by 2026, subject to grid availability and Ørsted’s final investment decision.

Furthermore, the firm has also kick-started the environmental impact assessments of the Xu Feng 1, 2, and 3 projects, which are located 37-62 kilometers off the coast of Changhua County with a total potential capacity of 2 GW. The firm is currently awaiting the new framework for upcoming auctions and will utilize the Xu Feng projects and the 570 MW Greater Changhua 3 project that already has obtained EIA approval to take an active role within the coming zonal development.