Mitsui, Northland make FID for Hai Long offshore wind project

Sept. 22, 2023
Japan's Mitsui and Canada's Northland Power plan to build a 1-GW wind farm offshore Taiwan.

Offshore staff

TOKYO  Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and partner Northland Power Inc. have made a final investment decision on the Hai Long Offshore Wind Power Project in Taiwan, subject to project finance contracts coming into effect, which is expected to take effect within this year after the fulfillment of the various conditions precedent.

The project involves the construction of 73 large wind turbines in the offshore area 45-70 km off Changhua County, Taiwan. It consists of three sections: HL2A (generation capacity: 294 MW), HL2B (224 MW) and HL3 (504 MW), which all have a total of 1,022 MW.

HL2A will sell electricity to Taiwan Power Co. under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), and HL2B and HL3 will sell electricity to a private power user in Taiwan under a 30-year PPA. These will start sequentially from the end of 2025.

The total project cost is expected to be about JPY 960 billion ($6.4 billion), of which about JPY 540 billion ($3.6 billion) will be raised through project financing, in which export credit agencies including Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, and other financial institutions around the world will participate. Mitsui's investment, loan and guarantee amount will be about JPY 260 billion ($1.7 billion).

Shareholders are Northland (60%) and Mitsui (40%).

Partial completion is scheduled for year-end 2025, and full completion is expected by year-end 2026.

09.22.2023