Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has allocated 2.7GW of capacity to five wind farm projects in its latest round 3.2 offshore auction. The awarded projects include Shinfox’s 700 MW Youde, Synera Renewable Energy Group’s (SRE) 800 MW Formosa 6, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ 600 MW Fengmiao 2, Corio and TotalEnergies’ 360 MW Formosa 3 joint-venture, and Enervest’s 240 MW Deshuai.
Notably, Ørsted’s 570 MW Greater Changhua 3 proposal was not selected despite ranking third in the initial bidding in July. The MOEA previously indicated that overlapping project scopes might prevent some ranked projects from receiving allocations.
Selected developers must submit a formal notice by 11 November 2024. Lucas Lin, chairperson of SRE, which secured the largest project, emphasized their long-term commitment to Taiwan’s offshore wind sector, stating: “SRE has been dedicated to offshore wind power in Taiwan since 2012, navigating through all the phases of industry development. Our unwavering commitment to Taiwan and strong belief in its market potential have been driving us forward.”
Taiwan aims to reach 13.1 GW of offshore wind power by 2030. As of 2023, Taiwan’s cumulative installed offshore wind capacity stood at 1.69 GW, with over 2.3 GW under construction and more than 25 GW in development, according to GlobalData.
However, the EU has requested dispute settlement consultations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regarding Taiwan’s local content criteria for offshore wind projects. The EU argues that these criteria violate Taiwan’s WTO commitments by discriminating against imported goods and services, negatively impacting a sector of strategic importance to the EU.