Taiwan Offshore Wind – Game on!

1 May 2018, by Gareth Lewis and Michael Chang

A watershed moment in offshore wind for developers in Taiwan has occurred. The anticipated moment following presentations made recently for 3.5 GW of feed in tariff support is here.

With 8 MW of offshore wind already in the water and a further 230 MW being developed as part of the original demonstration phase, recent announcements now see an additional 738 MW of capacity support for delivery by 2020 and a further 3,098 MW for delivery by 2025.

Six years since the Demonstration Plan was first put forward, current announcements really show how Taiwan’s offshore wind strategy is in full swing and in great shape. The result was based on those project teams able to demonstrate experience in the ability to deliver offshore wind farm projects as well as financial strength. The key winners being the wpd AG / InfraVest consortium, Ørsted and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) followed by Taiwan Generations Corporation (TGC), Taipower, Macquarie, and Swancor. Developers unsuccessful at this stage may be eligible to take part in an auction process for a further 1.7 GW over the next few months.

Recent announcements

The announcements on 30th April 2018 were a milestone in the process and showed the overall Taiwanese Government ambition to procure 5.5 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2025. This demonstrates to the rest of the world Taipei’s serious intent to be a leader in this market in Asia.

Following the initial plan for Demo sites back in 2012, a further three rounds have been in the offing:

  • Support for 500 MW of capacity for delivery by 2020
  • Support for a further 3,000 MW of capacity for delivery between 2020 and 2025
  • An auction process for an additional 2,000 MW for delivery up to 2025

The result in the announcement see 738 MW of capacity matched to the initial 500 MW by 2020 and 3,098 MW matched to the 3,000 MW by 2025. Projects that were not successful may be eligible to participate in the auction for the remaining capacity if they are able to compete against those successful developers who may have an advantage due to economies of scale and supply chain head start.