Ørsted Adds to Offshore Wind Tally in Taiwan

Ørsted has secured further 920MW capacity for its wind sites offshore Changhua County and now has a 1,820MW offshore wind pipeline in the region.

The winning bid price in the latest auction round was TWD 2,548 (approx. EUR 72.3) per MWh, Ørsted said.

Next step for the projects is to obtain the establishment permit and to secure the feed-in-tariff by signing a power purchase agreement with Taipower.

Subject to the final investment decision, the construction works will start in 2023 and the projects are to be commissioned in 2025.

The 900MW capacity awarded in the April auction is scheduled to be built in 2021. Ørsted expects that the April grid allocation at a higher Feed-in-Tariff will help facilitate the investments required to establish and mature a local supply chain by the time the two new projects enter the construction phase.

The developer has also based its latest bid on the expectation of a further cost-out in the industry towards the final investment decision driven by technology advancements such as larger turbines.

Ørsted has obtained site exclusivity on four offshore wind sites located between 35 and 60km from the shore of Changhua County. The four sites, which have a total potential capacity of 2.4GW, received environmental impact assessment approvals in February 2018. The remaining 580MW capacity can participate in future auction rounds, the company said.