Ørsted Completes Formosa Phase 2 Installation


20 Turbines Delivered to Offshore Site

Wind energy major Ørsted has completed delivery and installation of the final turbine for Phase 2 of the Formosa 1 Project in Taiwan.
 
Offshore construction of Phase 2 began in May 2019 and involved breakbulk transport of 20 turbines in total. The final turbine has now been hoisted into position and installed, paving the way for the windfarm to enter the commissioning phase.

"The Formosa 1 project team and the joint venture partners, Ørsted, JERA, Macquarie Capital, and Swancor, have faced various challenges in the past few months. The installation of the last wind turbine not only marks the completion of the construction work, but also symbolises that we now have built valuable construction experience in Taiwan,” said Matthias Bausenwein, president of Ørsted Asia Pacific.

 
First Commercial-scale Offshore Wind Farm

The ambitious project is the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in Taiwan and will have total capacity of 20.6 megawatts, once fully operational. Ørsted estimates that more than 100 specialists participated in the Formosa 1 Phase 2 project.

“All Formosa 1 wind turbines will start powering soon, and then reach commercial operation by the end of the year. Formosa 1 will become a paradigm for Taiwan's energy transition,” Bausenwein added.
 
installation work has been carried out by three major subcontractors, including JDN for foundation and cable installation; Siemens Gamesa for wind turbine installation, operation and maintenance; and Fortune Electric for onshore electrical systems.

 
Positive Step

Last year, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs approved grid capacity for 11 offshore wind projects with 738 megawatts to be completed by 2020, and 3,098 megawatts between 2021 and 2025. The completion of the latest phase of Formosa 1 was hailed as positive step but investment issues remain.

Government targets to install 5.5 gigawatts of installed offshore wind capacity by 2025 rely on extensive private investment and many of the planned projects are as yet uncomfrimed.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs has previously announced ambitious plans for offshore development, promising to boost breakbulk activity in the East Asian state, but legislation around feed-in tariffs have resulted in delays in final investment decisions for some projects.
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