Offshore staff
DENMARK, Norway — Ørsted announced its inauguration of the Ørsted Taiwan Offshore Wind Farms Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Hub on Aug. 2.
Located at the Port of Taichung, the O&M hub is the first operations facility with green design and the largest in terms of size and offshore service capacity in the Asia-Pacific region. It was built with the aim to serve four Greater Changhua offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of approximately 2.4 GW.
Ørsted began O&M deployment in 2018 with a plan to establish full-scale operations, which the company said is an unprecedented industrial practice in Taiwan. Ørsted brought its O&M expertise to Taiwan by cultivating a local O&M team of technicians and operations professionals, launching a customized service operation vessel (SOV) and investing in building the O&M hub.
Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper said, “Taiwan is our first market of entry in Asia-Pacific and home to our regional headquarters. We’re contributing significantly to Taiwan’s energy transition through the 1.82-GW capacity we’ve been awarded and more than 5.6 GW of new projects in the pipeline. The inauguration of our O&M hub, which is the first operations facility we’ve built outside of Europe and a significant investment we’ve made in this market, clearly demonstrates our long-term commitment to Taiwan and our dedication to create a world that runs entirely on green energy.”
The hub is designed in accordance with global standards from Ørsted’s O&M portfolio to oversee the daily operations of offshore wind farms, ensure optimal clean energy output and manage all safety aspects related to the works carried out by the offshore O&M technicians. Moreover, the facility uses locally manufactured, energy-saving and sustainable materials to reduce carbon footprint and contribute to Ørsted’s 2025 carbon neutrality goal.
Ørsted also set up a learning center at the O&M hub to welcome local communities and stakeholders to learn about offshore wind and inspire the next generation of professionals and talent.
Ørsted broke ground on the O&M hub in September 2020, and construction was completed in late June. The facility is 7,868 sq m and has an 80-person capacity.
Offshore Taiwan projects
Ørsted is the largest shareholder (35 %) of Taiwan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, Formosa 1, which was extended from a capacity of 8 MW to 128 MW in 2019.
The company's construction projects include the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms, which are located 35 km to 60 km off the coast of Changhua County and have a capacity of about 900 MW to provide clean energy to 1 million households in Taiwan.
The company also has two development projects underway. Ørsted was awarded grid capacity of the 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b & 4 Offshore Wind Farms through an auction in June 2018 and signed a corporate power purchase agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in July 2020. The Greater Changhua 2b & 4 Offshore Wind Farms will be commissioned in 2025-2026, subject to grid availability and Ørsted’s final investment decision.
Additionally, Ørsted has 5.6 GW of projects in the pipeline. The company has kick-started the environmental impact assessments of the Xu Feng 1, 2 and 3 offshore wind projects, which are located 37-62 km off the coast of Changhua County with a total potential capacity of 2.1 GW, and Wo Neng 1 & 2 offshore wind projects, which are located 42 km off the coast of Taichung with a potential capacity of 3 GW. Ørsted will utilize the Xu Feng and Wo Neng projects, as well as the 570-MW Greater Changhua 3 project, which has already obtained EIA approval, to take an active role in the forthcoming Zonal Development phase.
08.02.2022
