Swancor, TIPC Form Offshore Wind Joint Venture

Swancor and TIPC Marine Corporation, part of Taiwan International Ports Corp. (TIPC), have entered a joint venture to develop, construct, operate and maintain offshore wind farms.

The new company, Taiwan Offshore O&M Services Co., Ltd., will be held 60% by Swancor and 40% by TIPC Marine.

Swancor stated that establishing the joint venture is in line with the government’s offshore wind policy which aims to promote and cultivate the local supply chain, and set up offshore wind power infrastructure in Taiwan.

The partnership will deal with the full range of developing offshore wind projects, from applications for permits, planning, financing, construction and operation of offshore wind farms.

Swancor is behind Taiwain’s first operational offshore wind farm, the two-turbine Phase 1 of the Formosa 1 project, which comprises two phases. In January 2017, Ørsted (formerly known as DONG Energy) and Macquarie Capital signed agreements to acquire a combined 85% ownership interest in the Formosa 1 project from Swancor.

On 21 July, Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) officially signed an agreement with Taipower for the development of three sites at the Port of Taichung, which will support the developer’s offshore wind farm construction and O&M. Taipower plans to install 1,010MW of offshore wind capacity off Changhua County in Taiwan, divided into two project phases.

Ørsted, which is now owning the Formosa 1 project together with Swancor, also plans to develop offshore wind farm projects in the Changhua region. The company’s Greater Changhua project includes four sites with the total capacity expected to be 2.4GW.

Taiwan is starting on a process of replacing nuclear power generation with offshore wind, and has recently raised the offshore wind target for 2025 from 3GW to 5.5GW.

Offshore WIND Staff