Taiwan: Swancor Sets Its Offshore Wind Bar at 2.6GW by 2025

Swancor aims to have 520MW of offshore wind installed in Taiwanese waters by 2020 and reach 2.6GW by 2025, according to its latest press release.

The company already has 8MW installed in Taiwan within the first phase of the Formosa I project. In the second phase, a further 120MW of capacity is planned to be added by 2019, subject to final investment decision. Taiwan-based offshore wind developer plans to secure the funds necessary for the development of the project through financing deals with banks in the second quarter of 2018. Swancor is developing the offshore wind farm together with Ørsted and Macquarie Capital, who agreed to acquire stakes in Formosa I in January 2017.

The company said it is fully prepared to participate in the capacity allocation of offshore wind planning sites and plans to install 300-500MW by 2020.

Swancor is also behind three projects totalling around 2GW that recently received the necessary approval from Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). The company will build these together with EnBW and Macquarie Capital between 2021 and 2025.

Being a pioneer of offshore wind in Taiwan, Swancor has enabled creating the local supply chain, with many Taiwanese businesses crossing the threshold in the industry. According to the company, it acted as a consultant between European technology giants and Taiwan’s manufacturers to support local companies in gradually learning about the technology and acquiring know-how in this aspect.

To further advance the local supply chain and the offshore wind industry in Taiwan, Swancor signed a memorandum of understanding with Formosa Plastics and Taiwan Heavy Industries on 1 March to promote the localisation in wind power generators and foundations.

Furthermore, Swancor, Macquarie Capital and EnBW will establish an offshore wind power program in partnership with the Dayeh University in Changhua.