Construction Starts on Ørsted’s Greater Changhua 2b & 4 Offshore Substation

August 16, 2023, by Adnan Memija

Seatrium has held a strike steel ceremony at its Pioneer Yard in Singapore to mark the start of construction of the offshore substation for Ørsted’s Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms in Taiwan.

Seatrium said that this project is the latest under construction by Seatrium New Energy (a member of Seatrium Group) for its client Ørsted.

In March, Ørsted made the final investment decision on the offshore wind farms and said that the onshore work and fabrication of components will start this year.

Greater Changhua 2b and 4 will comprise around 65 wind turbines with an individual output of 14 MW installed some 35-60 kilometers off the Changhua coast.

South Korea’s HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding and Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) will manufacture and supply foundations for the 920 MW offshore wind farms.

The onshore substation will be built by Taiwan Cogeneration Corporation (TCC) under a contract signed with Ørsted in April this year.

In 2018, Ørsted secured 920 MW of grid capacity for the offshore wind farms in Taiwan’s first competitive price-based auction with no mandatory local content requirements. Two years later, the developer signed a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) for the offtake of the full production from Changhua 2b and 4.

When it comes to Seatrium, the company was formed following the merger of Singapore’s two offshore and marine companies, namely Sembcorp Marine and Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M).

In 2021, Keppel O&M completed the construction of two offshore substations for Ørsted which were deployed at the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a. The offshore wind farms are also being developed by Ørsted and are planned to be commissioned by the end of this year.