The 640MW Yunlin offshore wind farm is being developed in the Taiwan Strait by Yunneng Wind Power.
Yunneng Wind Power is owned by Skyborn Renewables (previously wpd), Electricity Generating Public Company, Total Energies, and a Japanese consortium, which hold stakes of 25%, 25%, 23%, and 27%, respectively. The Japanese consortium is comprised of Sojitz, ENEOS, Chugoku Electric Power, Chudenko, and Shikoku Electric Power. TotalEnergies acquired its stake in the project from Skyborn Renewables in May 2021.
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The estimated investment for the project is €2.7bn ($3.02bn).
The environmental impact assessment approval for the project was granted in June 2018. Construction of the offshore wind farm began in November 2020.
The project is expected to be completed in 2024 and is estimated to generate approximately 2.4TWh of clean energy a year, which will be sufficient to power 605,000 Taiwanese homes.
Yunlin offshore wind farm location and details
Spanning approximately 82km², the offshore wind farm is located 8km off the west coast of Taiwan.
It will be powered by 80 SG 8.0-167 DD offshore wind turbines, which will be installed at depths ranging from 7m to 35m. Each wind turbine has a power generating capacity of 8MW. The rotor diameter of each wind turbine is 167m while the swept area is 21,900m². The rotors use aerodynamic, 81.4m-long B81 blades.
The wind turbines will be installed on monopiles, each having a diameter of 10m and weighing approximately 2,000 tonnes.
Construction of the wind farm
The first monopile foundations for the project arrived in Taiwan from Nordenham, Germany, in November 2019.
The installation of the monopile foundations started in November 2020. The first turbine was installed at the site in April 2021 and connected to the national grid in November 2021.
In 2023, the installation of 45 monopile foundations, 26 inner array grids, 12 export cables, and 34 wind turbine generators was completed. The final installation works are expected to be completed in 2024.
Power transmission from Yunlin wind farm
A 270km-long subsea cable will connect the turbines of the wind farm and transmit the generated electricity to the shore.
The power generated from the offshore wind farm will be transmitted to the grid through two grid connection points at identical substations located in the Taixi and Sihu townships close to the project.
The infrastructure at each substation includes four 66/161kV power transformers, operating and maintenance rooms, and protection, communication, and control equipment across three levels, as well as the basement.
Power purchase agreement
The project is backed by a power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-owned company Taipower.
The power tariff under the PPA is $250/MWh for the first ten years, followed by $125/MWh for the remaining ten years.
Financing
Skyborn Renewables achieved financial closure for the wind farm in May 2019. The $3.02bn project financing was secured from a consortium of 19 banks and three export credit agencies.
The bank financing is being provided by four Taiwanese banks, namely Cathay United Bank, CTBC Bank, E.SUN Bank and Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, along with 15 international banks, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, DBS Bank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, KfW-IPEX Bank, Mizuho Bank, ING Bank, MUFG Bank, Natixis, Siemens Bank, Société Générale, OCBC, Standard Chartered Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). The credit agencies are EKF, Euler Hermes, and Atradius.
SMBC and E.SUN acted as the financial advisors for the project debt financing.
Blanke Meier Evers served as the legal advisor to Skyborn Renewables, covering supply agreements, as well as equity and debt financing. Linklaters along with Lee and Li provided legal advice to the company on debt financing.
Skyborn Renewables and its partners secured an extended financing agreement for the project in August 2023. The transaction included raising €500m of debt from the existing lenders and export credit agencies and raising new equity from sponsors. It also included the implementation of multiple interim liquidity funding arrangements and the reorganisation of the project’s equity and governance arrangements.
Contractors involved in Yunln wind farm
Fred. Olsen Windcarrier was awarded the contract for the transportation and installation of monopile foundations in September 2023. The company will deploy its Jack-up vessel Blue Wind for the associated works. It was also awarded the contract to transport and install the wind turbines at the project site in March 2019.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy received the order for 80 SG 8.0-167 DD offshore wind turbines for the project. The contractual scope also includes a service agreement for 15 years.
The foundation structures were designed by German company JBO Ingenieure. German company Steelwind Nordenham and Taiwan-based machinery manufacturer Formosa Heavy Industries (FHI) were selected to manufacture the foundation monopiles. Steelwind is responsible for supplying 40 monopiles built in Nordenham, as well as delivering 120 segments for fabrication by FHI in Taiwan to produce the remaining 40 monopiles.
The manufacturing of transition pieces was also split between European company Smulders and Taiwan’s CTCI Machinery. Smulders supplied 40 transition pieces and 80 electrical cages for the project while CTCI provided the remaining 40 transition pieces.
Multinational conglomerate General Electric was selected for the design and construction of the two substations that receive the power from the wind farm and transmit it onshore.
The cable manufacturing contract was awarded to Japan-based Sumitomo Electric Industries and South Korea-based cable solutions provider LS Cable & System.
Hung-Hua Construction was subcontracted to undertake nearshore cable works while Seaway Offshore Cables is acting as the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation contractor for the project’s inner array grid and export cable system.
Dutch company Jumbo was selected for the transportation of monopiles and transition pieces, as well as the installation of transition pieces.
The turbine towers were supplied by a partnership between CS Wind and Chin Fong Machine Industrial.
Manor Renewable Energy secured a contract to provide temporary power during the turbine construction phase of the project.
Risk management company Pentagon Assurance received a contract to provide quality, health, safety, and environmental advice in relation to subsea trenching services for the project. Taiwanese company WeatherRisk Explore was appointed to conduct a bird survey for the project.
Royal Boskalis Westminster, a dredging company based in the Netherlands, was contracted to provide scour protection of the turbine foundations. A bathymetric survey was conducted by CWind Taiwan, a joint venture between offshore services company CWind and survey services firm International Ocean Vessel Technical Consultant.
