Orsted CEO Mads Nipper has called on the Taiwanese government to relax its local content targets for offshore wind to help manage the risks of developing projects in the upcoming Round 3 Auction.
Speaking at the developer’s Asia Pacific roundtable event, Nipper argued that the government’s 60% localisation target for wind farms bidding into Round 3 risk “delays or very, very high costs”.
He cited the recent procurement of 111 jacket foundations for the under-construction 900MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a wind farm, of which six were sourced from local suppliers.
“I am convinced next time we will build more but going from six to 120 will be a very, very big jump,” he added.
Nipper continued that it may be easier to source towers and pin piles to meet Taiwan’s 60% objective.
He also highlighted Taiwan’s leading position in electronics manufacturing but argued for the need to take a long-term view in developing industrial capabilities.
“Instead of trying to catch up industries already established in other countries, (Taiwan should) consider developing industries (of strategic value),” he said, flagging floating wind and electrolyzers as two future growth areas globally.
Nipper’s comments follow concerns raised by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which hit back last month after Taiwan government auditors accused the developer of sidestepping local content requirements at its 589MW Changfang and Xidao wind farm.
CIP Taiwan managing director Marina Hsu argued that the project’s blades are produced locally and that it had built factories spanning 80 hectares in Taichung.
The same Control Yuan audit found that Taiwan’s industrial sector had fallen short of requirements for delivering localisation targets at Greater Changhua 1 & 2a, due to a shortage in welding capacity and port upgrade delays.
Orsted Taiwan’s general manager, Christy Wang, has called for tenders for port upgrades to factor in the requirements of Round 3 projects.