Ørsted has successfully delivered the first power from the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a wind farm off the coast of Taiwan. According to Ørsted, the first power was delivered on time with the installation and activation of the first batch of offshore wind turbines transferred from the Port of Taichung to the site.
“This is a significant milestone for Ørsted and the industry because Greater Changhua 1 & 2a is Taiwan’s largest offshore wind project and the company’s first large-scale offshore wind farm in the Asia-Pacific area,” the company stated.
The first turbine was deployed at the site by Seajack Scylla, a wind turbine installation vessel operated by Seajacks, a subsidiary of Eneti Inc., at the beginning of the month. Ørsted’s onshore substations received the electricity via array cables, offshore substations, and export cables. According to the corporation, renewable energy was supplied to the national grid via Taipower’s substation.
Read also: Plans Underway for 54GWh Gigafactory in Imperial Valley, California
Construction of Greater Changhua wind farm in Taiwan
The commissioning team of Ørsted ignited the offshore substation and export cable of the Greater Changhua 2a offshore wind farm last month, with testing of the two substations taking place in February and mid-December 2021, respectively. The 900 MW offshore wind project is still moving forward at full pace. Meanwhile, Ørsted’s operations and maintenance (O&M) team is preparing to take over and assure the optimal performance of the wind farm, which will offer stable and clean energy for over 25 years.
The 900 MW wind farms will be situated 35 to 50 kilometers off the coast of Changhua County and will consist of 111 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines that are expected to be completely operational by the end of 2022. The 605 MW Greater Changhua 1 wind farm is jointly owned by Ørsted (50%) and a consortium comprised of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Cathay PE, a Taiwanese private equity fund (50 percent). Ørsted is the sole owner of the 295 MW Changhua 2a and it is the company in charge of developing the wind farms.
