The second phase of Formosa 1, the offshore wind farm owned by Danish energy giant Ørsted, located off of the Taiwanese coast has started generating the first power.
The phase will comprise 20 of Siemens Gamesa’s turbines each with 6MW of generating capacity. At present 10 turbines have been installed, out of which six turbines have started gradually generating power.
As per Ørsted, it is a new milestone for Taiwan’s offshore wind industry and a step ahead in reaching the Taiwanese government’s ambitions to install 5.7GW in offshore wind by 2025.
Ørsted Asia-Pacific president Matthias Bausenwein said: “First power from the second phase of Formosa 1 is a major milestone for the project before completion. An achievement by the Formosa 1 team and all our supply chain partners.
“Together with our joint venture partners, JERA, Macquarie Capital and Swancor, we’ll keep devoting our efforts to building Taiwan’s first offshore wind farm on time and within budget. Formosa 1 is committed to producing significant amounts of clean energy and contribute to Taiwan’s energy transition.”
Formosa 1 will begin commercial operations within next two months
Before entering into commercial operations, each wind turbine will go through a power generation test that will last between 10 to 14 days to complete the commissioning stage. The 20 wind turbines in the second phase of Formosa 1 are expected to be fully operational within the next two months.
Formosa 1 offshore wind farm is comprised of two phases, the first phase included two 4MW wind turbines, which were installed in 2016 and officially entered into commercial operations in April 2017.
The wind farm is located about 2-6km off the coast of Miaoli County. The total power generating a capacity of Formosa 1 from two phases will be 128MW, which will be enough to supply clean electricity to 128,000 Taiwanese households.
In April this year, the company had taken the final investment decision for the second phase of the Formosa 1. The company estimated that the wind farm would begin operations by the end of this year.
The power generated from the wind farm will be supplied to Taipower under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) in December 2017.
