Danish energy firm Ørsted has awarded an EPC contract worth more than TWD7bn ($228m) to Taiwan Cogeneration Corporation (TCC) for the first 900MW Greater Changhua projects in Taiwan.
Image: Officials of Orsted and TCC at the contract signing ceremony. Photo: Courtesy of Ørsted Taiwan.
The EPC contract is touted to be the largest of its kind in Taiwan’s offshore wind industry, said Ørsted.
It includes construction of two onshore substations, cable corridors, landfalls and transition joint bays for the first Greater Changhua projects.
Under the contract, TCC’s wholly-owned subsidiary Star Energy will be responsible for all onshore deliverables related to the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of onshore substation.
Furthermore, Star Energy will ink orders with local sub-suppliers that are approved by Ørsted and these contracts will create between 800 and 1,000 jobs in the region.
Ørsted Asia Pacific general manager Matthias Bausenwein said: “We are very pleased to collaborate with Taiwan Cogeneration Corporation on building our first two onshore substations.
“Onshore substation is a crucial piece of infrastructure for our Greater Changhua wind farms. It will allow the incorporation of green energy into the power grid and bring clean energy to the households of Taiwan. This also marks the first step of our onshore construction in Changhua starting from early 2019.
“We are confident that together with our Taiwanese partners we will achieve the highest of quality, and that Ørsted’s experience, skills and engineering standards will lay the foundation for the Greater Changhua Wind Farms.”
Ørsted has already secured the land lease rights in Lun-Wei district, within the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park for building the first two onshore substations for the 900MW Greater Changhua projects.
After the final investment decision, all the onshore works are expected to begin in the second quarter of next year.
TCC chairman Chang Ming-Chieh said: “The procurement of electrical components (such as transformers, resistors, switchboards, cables, etc) and the civil engineering works will predominantly come from local suppliers.
“We estimate more than 85% of the entire project will be supplied by local suppliers and will create 800 to 1,000 new job opportunities.
“This will fulfil Orsted’s commitment to localise as much as possible the construction of the onshore substations.”
Recently, Ørsted has selected Siemens Gamesa as the preferred supplier of turbines for Taiwan’s first utility scale offshore wind farms.