Siemens Gamesa Signs Another MoU Towards Development Of Offshore Wind In Taiwan

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Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has signed yet another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Taiwan with the express purpose of helping to develop the Taichung Harbor in Taiwan for offshore wind activities, following its MoU signed in December with the Taiwan International Ports Corporation.

In early December of last year Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Taiwan International Ports Corporation intended to investigate the potential of developing an offshore wind manufacturing and deployment site. The intention was to both provide the company with a way to streamline its business and give it a foot in the door of Taiwan’s burgeoning offshore wind industry, as well as commit to and contribute towards Taiwan’s offshore wind industry. Siemens Gamesa recently opened offices in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, and signed the new MoU to explore potential manufacturing sites for offshore wind components, office facilities, and staging areas including storage, pre-assembly, and quayside load-out.

“The offshore wind industry in Taiwan is today looking at over 10 GW of projects under planning according to official information,” explained Andreas Nauen, CEO Offshore, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy at the time. “During 2017, strong supportive signs were shown by the Taiwanese government, with detailed grid capacity planning, and an increase of the long term ambitions. Similarly, significant milestones have been completed in the rest of the region. Japan is developing the first utility-scale projects, and Korea has now commissioned their first commercial-sized offshore wind power plant. We look forward to helping ensure that the right infrastructure is in place, as well as maintaining efforts towards further cost reductions.”

Fast forward to the beginning of February, and Siemens Gamesa announced that it had signed a second MoU, this time with the Yeong Guan Energy Technology Group (YGG), a metals manufacturing company based in China that, among other parts, manufactures wind power components. The MoU tasks YGG with the establishment of a foundry, machining, and painting facilities at the Taichung Harbor in Taiwan. Siemens Gamesa will provide advice and support with regards to compliance to offshore wind quality and HSE standards, and will open the door for YGG to become a competitive offshore wind technology supplier in the Asia Pacific region.

“The promising potential of the Taiwanese offshore market combined with our positive experience with the government has encouraged us to intensify our efforts,” said Andreas Nauen this week. “We are convinced that this emerging market offers interesting business opportunities. As one of the world’s leaders within the offshore wind industry, we look forward to gaining a foothold in this market.”

“The Taichung Harbor is a choice location, close to Changhua County, off of which the majority of the zones defined by the Taiwanese government for offshore wind projects are found,” said Rainer Mueller-Wallenborn, Head of Offshore Procurement, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, who signed the MoU. “As we stated in December 2017, there are over 10 GW of projects under planning overall in Taiwan according to official information. We therefore believe the Taichung Harbor has the potential to become a regional hub for the industry, and we are very happy to reinforce our commitment to its development with YGG.”

The Port of Taichung already has its own offshore wind development plans in progress with a current goal of being able to support wind power capacity of 3 GW (gigawatts) by 2030. Construction is underway on three areas concerned with wind turbine assembly, with several wharfs and components of its offshore wind goals to be completed by the end of this year. Specifically, according to news from earlier this month, wharves 5A and 5B are currently being upgraded to handle assembly and loading of wind turbine parts, rotors, and generators, while Wharf 106 is currently being upgraded to handle the delivery and receipt of related materials and equipment.