TGP’s owner, the Taiwanese manufacturing group LeaLea, has already secured an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the site in the Taiwan Strait.
The partners plan to enter the project off Changhua county in the country’s as-yet unscheduled third offshore wind tender, they stated.
Taiwan’s ministry of economic affairs is deciding on an auction schedule to award a further 10GW of offshore wind capacity, it aims to have commissioned between 2026 and 2035.
Wpd owns stakes in two other offshore wind farms being developed in Taiwanese waters.
Wpd secured a tariff for the 640MW Yunlin Yunlin (640MW) Offshoreoff Yunlin, Taiwan, Asia-Pacific Click to see full details site, but missed the deadline to secure the higher rate for its 350MW Guanyin Guanyin (350MW) Offshoreoff Guanyin, Taiwan, Asia-Pacific Click to see full details project.
It now aims to secure a PPA this year, but would not state whether this is a flat rate of TWD 5,094.60/MWh or the tiered tariff offered by the Taiwanese government.
The German developer recently sold a 25% stake in Yunlin Holding, the owner of the 640MW Yunlin wind farm, to Thai utility Electricity Generating Power Company. Japanese corporation Sojitz Group holds 27%, while Wpd owns the largest stake with 48%.
Yunlin is due to be commissioned in two stages, with the first completed by the end of 2020 and the second phase in the third quarter of 2021.
Wpd expects to sign the supply agreements for the Gunayin project “in the next weeks”, it stated.
The developer added that it expects to receive the final permits for the project this summer and to reach financial close in the fourth quarter of 2020.
MHI Vestas increases localisation
Meanwhile, MHI Vestas has finalised a contract with resin and composites company Swancor to source several blade materials in Taiwan.
The contract covers a “significant percentage of the direct materials value of overall blade manufacturing”, MHI Vestas stated, including carbon tow, carbon pultrusion, resin and bonding glue.
It follows the turbine manufacturer signing a purchase agreement with Tien Li Offshore Wind Technology to build blades in a new facility in Taichung Harbour on Taiwan’s west coast.
MHI Vestas has received firm orders for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ (CIP) Changfang and Xidao projects (combined capacity of 589MW) and is the preferred supplier of CIP and China Steel Corporation’s 300MW Zhong Neng wind farm.
