Located 35-60 kilometres off Taiwan’s west coast, Greater Changhua 1 & 2a has a total capacity of 900 MW, making it the largest and first far-shore wind farm in Taiwan. Once completed, the wind farm will significantly support Taiwan’s fast-track build-out of renewables. It will provide the much-needed green energy for Taiwan’s export industries and help achieve the country’s net-zero goal.
Christy Wang, General Manager of Ørsted Taiwan, says: “Delivering the first power as scheduled is a major milestone for both Ørsted and Taiwan. Since the 900 MW capacity was first awarded to Ørsted in April 2018 through the grid allocation process, our team has spared no efforts to develop and construct Greater Changhua 1 & 2a and achieve first power within four years to set a new benchmark for the industry.”
“This has not been an easy task especially with the COVID-19 pandemic challenges during the past two years. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for all the support from government agencies, local and international suppliers, as well as local stakeholders.”
The first power was delivered as scheduled with the installation and energization of the first batch of offshore wind turbines. The electricity was transferred to Ørsted’s onshore substations via array cables, offshore substations and export cables. The renewable energy was fed into the national grid via Taipower’s substation in Changhua. A total of 111 Siemens Gamesa 8.0-167 DD wind turbines will be installed at Changhua 1 & 2a, which will produce enough power to cover the power consumption of a million Taiwanese households.
Frida Persson, Co-CEO of the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms, says: “The successful generation of first power builds on Ørsted’s extensive offshore construction experience and a fantastic team effort. Leveraging our outstanding technical capabilities, we have overcome the challenges of the unique site conditions and weather in the Taiwan Strait. We are proud of the team we have built, encompassing thousands of people from multiple leading Taiwanese and international contractors from across the globe. We are determined to complete construction this year, meeting all quality, health, safety and environmental (QHSE) standards and fulfilling our environment impact assessment commitments.”
Ulrik Lange, Co-CEO of the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms, says: “Managing the risks of the key component fabrication, vessel mobilization and installation of the offshore wind farm has been imperative during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have given the highest priority to optimized planning, risk mitigation and adapting to challenges in this full-scale offshore wind construction project. Our entire team is focused on delivering the remaining construction work to the highest levels of quality and safely.”
The 900 MW offshore wind construction continues at full speed. Meanwhile, Ørsted’s operations and maintenance (O&M) team is getting ready to take over and ensure optimal performance of the wind farm which will provide stable and clean energy during its more than 25-year lifetime.
