With a planned capacity of 1 GW, the wind farm, named ‘Winds of September’ honouring the strong winds blowing in the Hsinchu region every September, is BlueFloat Energy’s first floating offshore wind project in Taiwan. Located 25 kilometres off the coast of Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City, the wind farm will be positioned in an area of around 125 km2 at around 70-96 metre water depth.
Taiwan is a pioneer in the Asian offshore wind market thanks to strong ambitions for offshore wind from the country’s government, its openness to external investors and an easier environment for project financing. The country also benefits from some of the world’s best offshore wind resources. These factors mean Taiwan has a strong growth potential for its fast-evolving floating wind industry. As Taiwan starts to put in place a regulatory regime structure for new floating wind technology, the lessons learned through important demonstration projects will be vital to shaping the market structure for future large-scale floating projects.
Having successfully established its presence in the Taiwanese market following its work on the Formosa 1 project – Taiwan's first utility-scale offshore wind farm – K2M is supporting BlueFloat Energy following its entry into the country’s third round of offshore wind tenders scheduled for later in 2023, which will see Taiwan adding another 3 GW of offshore wind to its existing capacity.
Under the terms of the work, K2M initially supported screening for site selection, including work on pre-feasibility wind turbine layout, energy yield analysis and export cable routing. With an eye on 2023, K2M is currently in the process of developing concept designs, supporting procurement and preparing auction proposals, including localisation plans.
“It is undeniably an exciting time for the Taiwanese offshore wind market and for our team at K2 Management to work with BlueFloat Energy” said Scott Hsu, Country Director, Taiwan & Philippines, K2 Management. “With 15 GW to be awarded in the round three auction for installation between 2026-2035 and the long-term target of 40-55 GW of installed capacity by 2050, there is incredible potential in this market. To ensure the country’s huge ambitions for offshore wind are met, the success of early, pioneering, floating projects such as Winds of September are key to paving the way for larger projects of greater capacity to be developed down the line.”
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