Ørsted’s Greater Changhua 2b & 4 Expected to Move into Construction Phase This Year

February 1, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

Ørsted expects to reach a final investment decision (FID) on its next offshore wind project in Taiwan, the 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b & 4, during this year, as planned. This will move the project into the construction phase and set it on the path towards commissioning in 2025.

Ørsted was awarded rights to build Greater Changhua 2b & 4 in Taiwan’s first offshore wind auction, in June 2018, with a winning bid price of TWD 2,548 per MWh (approximately EUR 78.3 per MWh).

In 2020, the company signed a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) for the offtake of the full production from the 920 MW wind farm, the largest-ever contract of this kind in the renewable energy sector.

After signing the PPA, Ørsted said that this contract improved the project’s financial viability and helped the developer mature Greater Changhua 2b & 4 towards a final investment decision. In 2020, the company said Greater Changhua 2b & 4 would become operational in 2025 and fully commissioned in 2026, subject to grid availability and the final investment decision.

Meanwhile, Ørsted’s first large-scale offshore wind farm in Asia Pacific, the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a, also in Taiwan, is expected to be fully commissioned in the second half of this year. The project was initially scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2022, but due to COVID-19-related delays, the commissioning of the wind farm was moved to 2023.

In Taiwan, Ørsted is also the largest shareholder (35 per cent) of the first commercial-scale offshore wind project, Formosa 1.

The company is also developing several further offshore wind projects in Taiwan, including the 570 MW Greater Changhua 3 which has already obtained EIA approval.

In June last year, the company’s Xu Feng 2 and 3 projects, located 37-62 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County, passed the preliminary review of the Environmental Protection Agency. It was anticipated that the company will compete in the first Round 3 auction to build these two offshore wind farms, but the developer announced in September 2022 that it decided not to bid.

Ørsted’s portfolio of planned projects and those in development also includes Xu Feng 1 off Changhua County and the Wo Neng 1 and 2 wind projects, which are located offshore Taichung.