Wind Energy – Taiwan
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has released the list of the projects awarded capacity in the latest offshore wind tender round.
The Taiwanese authorities awarded 2.7 GW of capacity across five projects. The projects are the 700 MW Youde (Shinfox), the 800 MW Formosa 6 (Synera Renewable Energy), the 600 MW Fengmiao 2 (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners), the 360 MW Formosa 3/Haiding 1 (Corio Generation and TotalEnergies), and the 240 MW Deshuai (Enervest).
MOEA started the Round 3.2 tendering process in April this year. Starting in May, the Ministry conducted reviews and selected qualified developers, and then launched the competitive price bidding process which was completed on 9 July.
The bidding rankings announced on 9 July listed six developments, the five mentioned above and Ørsted’s Greater Changhua Northeast as the sixth project. MOEA said last month that there might be five offshore wind farms that would ultimately be allocated capacity due to site overlapping that the Ministry then got onto reviewing before releasing the final decision.
Biggest surprise? Ørsted, one of the heavyweights, missed out on their 570 MW Greater Changhua 3 project. One of the main reasons Ørsted got edged out appears to be their bid’s lower local content compared to competitors. Taiwan is pushing hard for local production, and it looks like the winners pledged higher locally-produced components, giving them the edge.
The competition was fierce. Local players like Synera and Shinfox made strong showings, securing the largest projects. This could signify a strategic shift, with Taiwan favouring local developers to boost its domestic wind industry.
Ørsted has been a major player in Taiwan, but this loss might indicate a shift in the market dynamics. With stricter local content requirements and a finite amount of viable offshore sites, even the big names can stumble.
For Ørsted, this means recalibrating their strategy in Taiwan. They still have significant capacity on the island, but they’ll need to navigate the local content rules more effectively. For the Taiwanese offshore wind market, this auction signals a clear direction: local development and increased competition.
