Orsted will not submit a bid in the first offshore wind auction of Taiwan’s Round 3 process.
Orsted Head of Region for Asia-Pacific Per Mejnert Kristensen said: “As the largest and most experienced offshore wind developer in Taiwan, we had to take stock of the limitations set by the current regulation, which in combination with high inflation and increasing interest rates led us to conclude, after exhausting all efforts, that we cannot make the projects investable at this stage.
“Taiwan is, and continues to be, a strategic market for Orsted, so it was not an easy decision for us to not bid this time.
“We want to stay in Taiwan for decades to develop, build, own and operate offshore wind farms. Therefore, we will continue our dialogues with the authorities about the framework conditions for future tenders, and will discuss with key suppliers and strategic partners to decide next steps.”
Orsted expects to commission the last wind turbines at the 900MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farm in 2023 and is progressing the development of its next large-scale offshore wind farm in Taiwan, Greater Changhua 2b & 4 (920MW), which the company was awarded the right to build in Taiwan’s first offshore wind auction in 2018.
In addition, the company is developing a leading portfolio of offshore wind sites that can compete in future tenders in Taiwan.
Orsted is the largest shareholder (35%) of Taiwan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, Formosa 1, which was extended from a capacity of 8MW to 128 MW in 2019.