The Greater Changhua offshore wind farm projects are being developed at four sites in the Taiwan Strait, approximately 35km to 60km off the coast of Changhua County, Taiwan.
The wind farms include the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms with a capacity of 900MW, the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 wind farms with a capacity of 920MW, and the future Greater Changhua 3 project with a capacity of 600MW.
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Danish energy company Orsted is the developer of the project.
In 2021, the company sold a 50% stake in the Greater Changhua 1 wind farm to a consortium comprising the global institutional investor Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and the Taiwanese private equity fund Cathay Private Equity.
Onshore construction for the Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms started in November 2019 while offshore construction commenced in March 2021.
The last turbines of the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms were completed and inaugurated in April 2024.
Construction of the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 wind farms commenced in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, with commercial operation targeted for 2026.
Upon completion, the four Greater Changhua offshore wind farms will form Taiwan’s largest wind power complex, capable of powering approximately 2.8 million Taiwanese households.
Greater Changhua offshore wind farm project development
The Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration approved the four planned offshore wind farm projects in February 2018. The company received approval from the Taiwanese Government in April 2018 to connect a 900MW wind capacity (Changhua 1 and 2a) to Taiwan’s national grid.
The right to build the Changhua 2b and 4 projects was awarded in June 2018. Orsted reached the final investment decision (FID) on the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind projects in April 2019.
The FID on the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 projects was made in March 2023.
Orsted plans to participate in the forthcoming auctions for the Greater Changhua 3 project.
Details of the Greater Changhua wind farms project
The 900MW Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms comprise Changhua 1 with a capacity of 605.2MW, located at a water depth between 34.4m and 44.1m across an area of 108.7km², and Changhua 2a with a capacity of 294.8MW.
The cable-laying vessel Nexus, with a 5,000t cable carousel capacity, laid 111 interarray cables with a total length of approximately 135km, and three export cables that are approximately 145km in length for the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a project.
All the interarray and export cables are protected by 235 NjordGuard cable protection systems and bellmouths. The cables were buried to the required depth by Van Oord’s Dig-It trencher.
The MV Lone, a dynamic positioning installation vessel, is used for pile installation. A Taiwan-flagged service operation vessel (SOV) has been deployed 35km to 60km off the coast of Changhua for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the four wind farms.
The SOV can accommodate up to 60 technicians and the crew and operate at sea for 30 days.
In August 2022, Orsted inaugurated the Orsted Taiwan Offshore Wind Farms O&M Hub in the port city of Taichung.
It is the first operations facility and the largest in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of size and offshore services capacity.
Wind turbine details
The Asia-Pacific variant of the 8MW SG 8.0-167 DD offshore wind turbine is installed at the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms.
It is designed to withstand typhoons, seismic activities, and high and low ambient temperatures.
The turbine has a rotor diameter of 167m, a swept area of 21,900m², and uses 81.4m-long SGRE B81 blades.
The Aegir fast sailing heavy lift vessel was employed to install 111 turbine foundations at a water depth of 30m-35m.
Transmission details of the Greater Changhua wind farms
Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms contain two offshore high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) transformer platforms and two onshore HVAC substations.
Construction of the two offshore substations comprising topside modules and jacket foundations was completed in September 2021.
The transmission lines of 66kV/220kV/161kV HVAC were laid for the Changhua 1 wind farm, which includes two 55km-long, 230kV export cables running from the offshore substation to the onshore landing point.
In addition, 4.35km-long 161kV export cables connect the onshore stations to the Taiwan Power Company-operated Chang One A substation, the grid point of connection in Changhua County.
Power supply details
Orsted signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement with Taipower to sell the electricity generated from the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms in January 2019.
The feed-in tariff can be chosen as either a 20-year flat tariff of T$5,516 (approximately $178.8) per MWh or a tiered tariff of T$6,279.5 per MWh for the first ten years and T$4,142.2 per MWh for the subsequent ten years.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company partnered with Orsted to off-take the full production of electricity generated from Greater Changhua 2b and 4 wind farms for 20 years under a fixed-price contract signed in July 2020.
Contractors involved
Taiwan Cogeneration and Star Energy are responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of two onshore substations, cable corridors, landfalls and transition joint bays for the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a project under a $227m contract signed in November 2018.
Keppel won a contract worth more than $150m for detailed EPC, testing and commissioning of two 600MW offshore wind farm substations in May 2019.
Ramboll designed the topside and substructure of the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farm substations and executed the detailed design of the offshore switchyard in 2019.
Ta San Shang Marine, a joint venture between Taiwan’s Ta Tong Marine and Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines, is responsible for building and chartering SOV for the O&M of Greater Changhua offshore wind farms under a 15-year contract signed in April 2020.
Sing Da Marine Structure, a subsidiary of China Steel Corporation, is responsible for manufacturing turbine jacket foundations.
Dredging company DEME was contracted to carry out seabed levelling and scour protection for the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms in October 2023.
ABL, a UK-based consultancy for oil and gas, maritime and renewables, was appointed by Orsted in May 2024 to provide marine warranty survey services for the offshore transportation and installation of the turbines and cables for the project.
Engineering company Seatrium was awarded the EPC contract for the 600MW offshore substation for the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 wind farms.
Siemens Gamesa supplied the wind turbines and two large offshore substations for the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a project.
Heerema, H2Offshore Engineering, Van Oord, Ho Lung Power Engineering, James Fisher Renewables, Sarens, Pulse Structural Monitoring, PetroVietnam Technical Services Jan De Nul Group and Woen Jinn Harbour Engineering, are some of the other contractors involved in the project.
Other contractors include VARD Singapore, Trelleborg, SAL Heavy Lift, CSBC, EGST, Master Builders Solutions, TKF, Framo, Century Wind Power, Chunghwa Telecom, Ericsson, Chung Hsin Electric & Machinery Manufacturing, Fortune Electric, and Allen & Overy.
