Orsted Breaks Ground for Taiwan OWP

Construction of Taiwan's Formosa 2, an offshore wind power (OWP) development project, officially broke ground in Miaoli County.

Orsted Taiwan said in a statement that it held a ground-breaking ceremony for the onshore substation works for the 900MW Greater Changhua 1&2a offshore wind farm off Taiwan.

Ørsted awarded an onshore substation EPC contract to TCC last November. TCC will build two onshore substations, cable corridors, and transition joint bays for the first 900MW Greater Changhua projects. The contract, with an amount over NTD 7bn, is being now executed by Star Energy Corporation (SEC), a 100% subsidiary of TCC.

SEC has hired more than 60 additional employees since last year. During the onshore construction period, there will be approximately 800-1,000 people working on the onshore substation projects.

Ørsted has been committed to the local offshore wind industry development since day one. For Ørsted’s onshore EPC contract, SEC has already signed seven major sub-contracts with local companies.

Taiwan Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Services, Inc. and GIBSIN Engineers, Ltd together with National Taipei University are the design consultants. Chung-Hsin Electric and Machinery Manufacturing Corporation will supply GIS (Gas Insulated Switchgears) and Fortune Electric Corporation will supply SGT (Super Grid Transformers) to the onshore substations. Reiju Construction Corporation will construct the onshore substations and Jen-Yi Construction Corporation will construct the culvert box.

Taiwanese suppliers will also participate in the EPC contract scope such as civil engineering, reactors, cable laying, equipment installation, etc. In addition, Changhua suppliers including Chang-Lu Premixed Concrete Corporation and Jo-lian Premixed Concrete Corporation are both in the SEC’s supply chain.

Ørsted has signed many major contracts for Greater Changhua 1&2a projects since Q4 2019 and therefore, already paid more than NT$100 million stamp duty to Changhua County Government.

The major contracts include the onshore EPC contract with TCC, the jacket foundation contract with Sing Da Marine Structure, and the turbine contract signed with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. The significant tax amount paid by Ørsted has made the company the record-breaking, largest annual cumulative stamp duty contributor to Changhua County Government.

Matthias Bausenwein, President of Ørsted Asia Pacific and Chairman of Ørsted Taiwan, says: " Together with the EPC contractor SEC, Changhua 1&2a projects will implement the highest global QHSE standards at the onshore construction site and comply with EIA commitments, including sending archaeological experts to the site and controlling air pollution and noise. We will not only fulfill local content requirements, but also work together to enable our EPC contractor and his local suppliers to bring their QHSE practice to international standards and enhance their competences.”