Taiya Renewable Energy said it was the first Taiwanese developer to move forwards with floating wind pilot projects. It also announced a joint venture with BW Ideol, which makes floating wind platforms, that it hopes will lead to large-scale commercial projects.
The agreement has two parts and is subject to due diligence. In the first step, the partners will work on a 50MW pilot project. This is in response to plans announced in August by Taiwan’s economic affairs ministry for a 100MW auction for pilot floating arrays in deeper waters.
BW Ideol will have the sole contract to design, engineer, build, and instal the floating foundations using its damping pool technology. Assuming that a final investment decision is made for the project, construction is expected to start in 2025 and be finished in 2026.
The partnership agreement also covers the joint development of a number of projects that are big enough to be used in business. Environmental impact assessment work is still going on so that the project will be qualified in time for the tenders to be launched.
Paul de la Guérivière, CEO of BW Ideol, said, “We are happy to continue to grow our global project pipeline in line with our dual-leg strategy as a co-developer and as a technology and EPCI services provider.” He emphasised the benefits of Taiya’s “strong local footprint and experience in engaging with local stakeholders.” We’re looking forwards to contributing to the speeding up of commercial-scale floating offshore wind farms in Taiwan and making our already strong presence in Asia even stronger.
Taiya focuses on finding places for offshore wind farms and building them. It recently made a deal with the French energy company EDF Renewables to bid on the Huan-Yang bottom-fixed offshore wind farm together in Taiwan’s upcoming auction.