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Fred Olsen to install MHI Vestas turbines at Changfang and Xidao
TAIWAN
FRED Olsen Windcarrier is to install 62 MHI Vestas turbines at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ (CIP) Changfang and Xidao (CFXD) wind farms off Taiwan.
Fred Olsen Windcarrier said it would use its jack-up vessel Brave Tern after it won the turbine transport and installation (T&I) contract for the 600MW offshore development from CSBC- DEME Wind Engineering.
MHI Vestas is to supply its V174-9.5MW model turbines to what will be Asia’s largest ever offshore wind development.
“CFXD is an important project for us and will strengthen our position and commitment to the growing Taiwanese market and the APAC region in general. Last year Fred Olsen Ocean opened an office in Taiwan to bring the group’s exten- sive experience from Europe to the region. [The] first step will be in April, when Brave Tern heads towards Taiwan,” said Fred Olsen Windcarrier chief commercial officer Casper Toft.
The Changfang and Xidao projects are a key part of the Taiwanese government’s plans to build 5.5GW of offshore capacity, with another 10GW to made available during its next licens- ing round.
Commissioning at Changfang and Xidao is set to take place in the first quarter of 2024.
CIP achieved financial closure for the project in February 2020, raising $3bn via a combination of equity and senior loans from a consortium of 25 international and Taiwanese banks.
The Taiwanese government approved the project in December 2019. It has imposed tough localisation rules on the project, which aims to develop a domestic manufacturing capability and to encourage global companies to set up rep- resentative offices and local structures in Taiwan.
For example, CIP said that it would localise the manufacturing of the jacket foundation, pin piles, the onshore substation, transport and installation contracts, and more than 15 wind turbine components.
“We are very pleased that the set-up of CDWE and a Fred Olsen Windcarrier vessel has fulfilled the Taiwanese government’s turbine installation localisation requirements,” said CIP CFXD off- shore wind farms chief executive Jesper Holst.
CIP acquired the Changfang and Xidao wind farms in 2017 and the project obtained grid allo- cation in 2018.
In 2019, the project entered into a 20-year PPA with the state-owned Taiwan Power Co.
As well as CIP, Taiwan Life Insurance and TransGlobe Life Insurance own minor holdings in the wind farm. ™
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