Spanish wind energy giant Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has this week announced its first local supply agreements for offshore wind projects in Taiwan, heralding the next key step in the evolution and growth of what is expected to be the world’s next big offshore wind energy hub.
Annual wind capacity additions in the Asia Pacific region (excluding China) are expected to reach 12.1 gigawatts (GW) by 2022 according to new research from MAKE Consulting, more than double the capacity added by the end of 2017 of 5.5 GW.
The Taiwan Bureau of Energy announced the winners of its second offshore wind auction last week, awarding 1,664 megawatts in offshore wind capacity to Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and Canadian independent power producer Northland Power.
The global offshore wind energy pipeline has grown by 10% in the past year to over 104 gigawatts (GW) according to new data published by RenewableUK, which also showed that the United Kingdom remains the largest offshore wind market in the world with a portfolio of 35.2 GW.
The 120 megawatt (MW) expansion to Taiwan’s first-ever offshore wind farm, Formosa 1, has reached financial close this week thanks to the completion of a NT$18.7 billion ($626 million) project financing deal by a consortium of eleven international and local Taiwanese banks.
German wind energy developer wpd has selected Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy as its preferred wind turbine supplier for its 640 megawatt (MW) Yunlin offshore wind power project in Taiwan, following its successful entry in the country’s recent offshore wind tender.
As Taiwan emerges as the next power base for the offshore wind industry, we look at what makes the country so appealing and what the future really looks like.
More than 72 GW of new wind capacity is expected to be added over the next ten years in the Asia Pacific (excluding China), pushing cumulative capacity up to 111 GW and making it one of the largest wind sub-regions in the world.
Offshore wind power may yet not match the overall strength of onshore wind, but the industry is on course grow rapidly to become an €130 billion annual global market by 2020.
A new report from industry consultants Roland Berger, “Offshore Wind Toward 2020,” concludes a combination of industry trends will soon make offshore wind cost competitive with other generation sources in many markets.
