The 295MW phase II of the Taiwan Power Company (TPC) offshore wind farm is being developed by TPC, also known as Taipower, about 20km off the coast of Changhua County, Taiwan.
The company completed the 109.2MW TPC phase I, which is also located offshore Changhua County, in November 2021. The combined power production of the two projects is expected to be more than 1.35GWh.
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Phase II is expected to generate 1GWh of power a year, catering to the annual electricity needs of 270,000 households. It is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 403,611 metric tonnes a year.
It will support Taiwan’s goal of increasing the share of renewable energy to 20% of the country’s total by 2025.
First power from the Taiwanese wind farm is expected to be achieved in 2025.
Location
The TPC offshore wind farm phase II is being developed in an area of 50.13km² in Zone 26 of the Taiwan Strait, off the coast of Lugang Town, Changhua County. The water depth at the site ranges between 37m and 49m.
Plant make-up
The wind project will be installed with 31 V174-9.5 MW turbines from Vestas, which have a power generating capacity of 9.5MW each.
The project will also comprise the development of an offshore substation, onshore electrical room, and installation of inter-array cables and export cables. A 4ft underwater sleeve-type foundation jacket will be developed, which will be connected to the turbine tower using a transition piece. The turbines will be mounted on jacket foundations.
With a platform and auxiliary equipment, the transition section will be 22m high from sea level.
Subsea infrastructure will include 60km of 66kV composite inter-array cables and more than 60km of 160kV composite export cables.
Turbines details
Each V174-9.5 MW turbine has the capacity to supply power to 9,000 UK households. Thye have a rotor diameter of 174m, swept area of 23,779m² (255,955ft²), and three 85m blades, weighing 35t each.
Pre-assembly work of the turbines will be conducted at Taichung port, located off the coast of Changhua County.
Grid connection
Power generated from the turbines will be transmitted to the offshore substation through the 66kV inter-array cables. The substation will step up the output voltage to 161kV.
The export cables will transport the electricity to the North Corridor of the common grid through the Changhua offshore substation.
The generated wind power will reach shore through the transmission submarine cable connected to the onshore electrical room. It will be connected to the 161kV busbar of the Chang-Yi Switchgear through a land cable.
The Chang-Yi Switching Station, which is a key hub dedicated to the grid integration of offshore wind power in Taiwan, was opened in November 2021.
Connection to the grid is scheduled to be achieved in 2025.
Contractors involved
Denmark-based wind turbine manufacturer Vestas received a contract to supply the 31 wind turbines for the project in March 2022. The contract also includes a 14-year service agreement for the turbines.
Risk management and assurance services company DNV received a contract worth Nkr150m ($17.7m) to act as the Owner’s Engineer for the project in March 2021. DNV is working in partnership with GIBSIN Engineers, an engineering consultancy based in Taiwan, to deliver the contract work.
Foxwell Energy, a subsidiary of Shinfox, was awarded a tender worth TWD62.89bn ($2.11bn) for the development of the project in 2020.
The contractual scope includes engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and operation and maintenance services. Foxwell Energy will provide operations and maintenance services for the first five years of commercial operation of the project.
Netherlands-based IX Wind, a consultancy and engineering company, signed a cooperation agreement with Foxwell Energy for the development of the project in November 2021. The company will serve as the wind turbine procurement consultant for the project. Part of IX Renewables group, IX Wind will also be responsible for providing experts and senior management for the project team.
IX Renewables group contracted CrocWorks, an offshore cable engineering solutions provider, for the submarine cable package management in June 2021.
A contract worth $83.4m for the transportation and installation of wind turbines was awarded to Teras Offshore, a marine logistics and support services company, in December 2020.
Zhongxing Engineering Consulting, which is based in Taiwan, designed the underwater foundations for the wind turbines.
Century Steel Structure and Century Wind Power were contracted to build the sleeve-type foundation structure, transition section and steel pipe foundation piles in June 2021.
Zhongjie Haike Co received a subcontract for the drilling operations for the construction of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) monitoring system for the project. Geological survey and geological drilling were carried out by Huandao Engineering Co, an onshore and offshore drilling company.
Geological drilling services were also provided by HELMS, a Malaysian offshore soil investigation and geotechnical engineering services company.
Renewable energy solution provider Star Energy was contracted for onshore work for the project in 2021.
CS Wind/Chinfong (Jinfeng Company) reached an agreement with Vestas to develop sheet roll technology in Taiwan, while Chinfong agreed to supply manufacturing equipment and manpower.
ZTE Engineering Consultants, COWI and Tractebel were contracted to provide underwater foundation design services.
Tractebel was appointed by ZTE Engineering Consultants to act as the contractor’s engineer for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) electrical package of the project in June 2021. The company will provide engineering and consultancy services for the electrical package, which includes the offshore substation, inter-array and export cables, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to control and monitor equipment.
Project timeline
Taipower received permission from the Energy Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to build an offshore wind farm in Zone 26, Changhua County, Waihai, in 2018.
Land engineering drilling operations and surveys were completed in December 2021.
Approval for delineating the route for the offshore cable system was received in March 2022.
