Orsted has chosen Siemens Gamesa as the preferred supplier for the first 900MW of the Greater Changhua offshore wind farms in Taiwan.
Siemens Gamesa will deliver approximately 112 8.0-167 machines for the project, with offshore construction planned to start in 2021.
Under the terms of the deal, the manufacturer has committed to setting up a local nacelle assembly facility by 2021, subject to the finalisation of the contract.
Towers will also be built locally under a partnership agreement between CS Wind and Taiwanese Chin Fong Machine Industrial at Chin Fong’s Taichung Harbour facilities.
Orsted said the project is subject to certain conditions, such as the signing of a power purchase agreement by the end 2018 and a final investment decision, which is expected in March 2019.
Orsted offshore wind chief executive Martin Neubert said: “As the market leader in offshore wind, we have more than 20 years of experience in developing local supply chains, and we share the government’s ambition of making the Changhua offshore wind farms not just a cornerstone in Taiwan’s green transition, but also a vehicle for kick-starting a new industry.
“Orsted has gone the extra mile and advocated an accelerated local nacelle assembly facility with (Siemens Gamesa) for the long-term benefits of the offshore wind industry in Taiwan.”
Siemens Gamesa offshore business unit chief executive Andreas Nauen said: “We’re glad that our long-term partnership with Orsted continues to grow in Asia Pacific.
“It’s on Orsted’s request and to meet the schedule of the first Greater Changhua projects that we would implement an accelerated set-up of a nacelle assembly facility in Taichung Harbour to start production in 2021, ahead of the timeline communicated by the government for localisation activities.”
Orsted has obtained site exclusivity for four offshore wind sites located between 35km and 60km from the shore of Changhua County.
The four sites, which have a total potential capacity of 2.4GW, received environmental impact assessment approvals in February.
Subject to Orsted taking final investment decision, about 1.8GW have now been earmarked for build-out in 2021 and 2025.