Danish energy company and offshore specialist Ørsted has announced the start of seaward construction work on the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms in Taiwan. The two wind farms have a total capacity of 920 MW.
Once commissioned, they will make an important contribution to the energy transition in Taiwan. Ørsted was awarded the contract for the two projects back in July 2018. In July 2020, Ørsted then signed a 20-year fixed-price power purchase agreement (CPPA) with the Taiwanese semiconductor company TSMC, which intends to purchase all of the electricity generated by the wind farms.
“The commencement of offshore construction for the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 demonstrates Ørsted’s unwavering commitment to developing, constructing, and operating large-scale offshore wind farms in Taiwan”, comments Per Mejnert Kristensen, President of the APAC region at Ørsted, on the milestone now reached.
Since the final investment decision in March 2023, Ørsted has started manufacturing the key components, completed the construction work for the onshore substation and started mobilizing vessels in preparation for the offshore construction.
According to Ørsted, the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms are expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and fully connected to the grid in 2026. Once completed, Ørsted will have a combined offshore wind capacity of almost 2,000 MW (2 GW) in Taiwan. The plan is to install a total of 66 Siemens Gamesa 14-236 DD wind turbines, each with a turbine capacity of 14 MW.
Ørsted currently has an installed offshore wind capacity of 9,900 MW (9.9 GW) on three continents and a further 8,400 MW (8.4 GW) are under construction, according to the RENIXX Group.
