The commissioning team of Ørsted has energized the offshore substation and export cable of the Greater Changhua 2a offshore wind farm.
According to the developer’s social media update, this represents a “big step” for the upcoming wind turbine installation and power transmission preparations.
During the testing of the Greater Changhua offshore substations, which happened last month and in mid-December 2021, all the low and utility systems onboard the platform were powered up to check that the power equipment remained in good condition after being shipped to Taiwan.
Heerema Marine Contractors’ heavy-lift vessel Aegir installed the two substations on their respective jacket foundations in early November.
The two substations, manufactured by Keppel Offshore & Marine, are the first-ever to be installed in Taiwan’s waters.
Keppel O&M completed the construction of the jacket foundations for the substations in the second quarter of 2021 and saw them being installed by Heerema Marine Contractors’ heavy-lift vessel Aegir in May and June of last year.
Located some 35 to 50 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County, the 900 MW wind farms will comprise the two substations and 111 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2022.
Once operational, Greater Changhua 1 & 2a will be Taiwan’s first far offshore and large-scale offshore wind project.