Changhua fosters cooperation with offshore wind power developers

2017/03/10

The Changhua County Government signed a memorandum of understanding March 8 with Macquarie Formosa 1 Co. and Swancor Renewable Energy Co. over NT$210 billion (US$6.8 billion) in investment to boost the development of offshore wind farms in central Taiwan.
 
Possessing abundant wind resources, the central county of Changhua is the location of 21 out of the nation’s 36 prime offshore wind farm sites identified by the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
 
Changhua County Magistrate Wei Ming-ku said his administration will strive to expedite the development of wind energy and aims to install between 800 and 1,000 wind turbines through collaboration with public and private firms.

John Jackman, chairman of Macquarie Formosa 1 Co. based in Taipei City and the managing director of the Australian investment firm Macquarie Capital, said in 2012 Macquarie Capital invested in offshore wind projects, primarily in Germany and the U.K., with a total generation capacity of 1.3 gigawatts. His company will seek to provide knowledge, technology and job opportunities to Changhua through cooperation projects with Swancor, he added.

According to Wei, in addition to this latest agreement, the Changhua County Government has also inked cooperation pacts with Denmark’s largest energy firm Dong Energy, Northland Power Inc. of Canada, state-run Taiwan Power Co. and Yushan Energy Pte., Ltd. of Singapore last year. These agreements will lead to more than NT$1 trillion in investment in offshore wind projects, he said.

Swancor, which set up Taiwan’s first offshore wind turbines in the waters off the northern county of Miaoli last year, also signed a pact with Da-Yeh University in Changhua to promote industry-academia collaboration. Jerry J. R. Ou, president of Da-Yeh University, said his school will provide tailor-made courses to equip students with the skills needed to work in the renewable energy industry.

The MOEA has offered various incentives to promote wind power development, including subsidies for development costs, technical support and feed-in tariffs that guarantee a fixed premium price for electricity for a period of 20 years. The long-term goal is to raise Taiwan’s offshore wind power capacity to 3 GW by 2025 and help the nation move toward becoming a nuclear-free homeland.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=6&post=112378)