Taiwan’s First Far Offshore and Large-Scale Wind Project Inaugurated

April 25, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind project was officially inaugurated at an event in the Port of Taichung, Taiwan, on 25 April 2024. With a total installed capacity of 900 MW, the project is in operation and fully connected to the grid, making it the largest in Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region, said Ørsted, the developer of the offshore wind farms.

Offshore construction on Ørsted’s Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms started in the summer of 2021 with the installation of the first wind turbine jacket foundation and the laying of the first export cable.

A year later, all the jacket foundations were installed at the construction site, located 35-50 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County.

The wind farm produced its first power in April 2022, after the installation and energisation of the first batch of its Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines.

The last wind turbine was placed on its jacket foundations in February 2024 while all the units were connected to the Taiwanese grid two months later.

“With today’s inauguration, we’re celebrating a landmark achievement for Ørsted and for Taiwan. Greater Changhua 1 and 2a are our first gigawatt-scale offshore wind farms outside of Europe. They’re also Taiwan’s first utility-scale far-shore wind farms and the largest of their kind in APAC, reaffirming Taiwan as the frontrunner in the region,” said Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted.

Initially, the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms were planned to be completed in 2023 but that was pushed back to 2024 after the developer announced that it was experiencing delays due to bottlenecks in the supply chain.

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The 605 MW Greater Changhua 1 is owned by Ørsted (50 per cent), and a consortium comprising Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and the Taiwanese private equity fund, Cathay PE (50 per cent).

The 295 MW Changhua 2a is owned solely by Ørsted.

The 900 MW project inaugurated on 25 April is part of Ørsted’s Greater Changhua offshore wind zone, which also comprises Greater Changhua 2b, Greater Changhua 3, and Greater Changhua 4. The zone has a combined capacity of approximately 2.4 GW.

“In 2024, Ørsted has a record 7.6 GW of offshore wind projects under construction worldwide, including our next big project in Taiwan, the 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b and 4,” said Nipper.