Denmark-based offshore wind developer Ørsted has secured the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval from the Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration for 2.4GW of offshore wind projects in Taiwan.
Planned to be built off Changhua County, the four wind projects are expected to generate clean electricity required to power around 2.8 million Taiwanese households.
Ørsted said that the EIA approval, which follows conclusion of review process, provides exclusivity over the development of the four sites.
Construction on the projects is planned to commence as early as 2019. It is subject to completion of final investment decision.
Orsted Wind Power chief executive Martin Neubert said: “Today's approvals mark an important milestone for Orsted's expansion in Asia and the realisation of Taiwan's ambitious energy targets.”
For the four Greater Changhua projects, Orsted now plans to secure the corresponding grid capacity in 2018 and obtain the establishment permit by the end of 2019.
The firm will then seek to secure the feed-in-tariff through signing the power purchase agreement.
Orsted Asia Pacific general manager Matthias Bausenwein said: “The EIA approvals by Environmental Protection Administration are a crucial step towards securing Taiwan’s energy future with stable and clean power stemming from the strong winds in the Strait.
“We have now obtained exclusivity and certainty to further develop large scale offshore wind farms off Changhua County.”
Recently, Orsted announced its plans to develop a MW-size energy storage system in Changhua County, Taiwan, in partnership with several Taiwanese partners.
Partners for the Orsted’s energy storage pilot project, which will be based on lithium-ion battery technology, include the Changhua County government, Taipower, the Industrial Technology Research Institute and National Changhua University of Education on the project.
The project aims to bring battery storage know-how to the country in order to support the grid and renewables build-out.
Image: Taiwan intends to meet the increasing energy demand. Photo: courtesy of xedos4/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.