Tien Li contract confirms MHI Vestas as first turbine manufacturer to build blades locally in Taiwan

Building upon a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreed in March 2018, MHI Vestas has signed a conditional contract with TLC for blade manufacturing in Taiwan. This is the first localisation agreement made by a wind turbine manufacturer to enable blades to be produced locally. As part of the agreement, a new manufacturing facility will be constructed in Taichung Harbour.

“The finalisation of this contract is a significant milestone for the delivery of the comprehensive industrial plan we have developed for Taiwan,” said MHI Vestas Chief Supply Chain Officer, Robert Borin. “We are proud to reach this agreement with Tien Li to deliver a critical piece of our industrial plan, by ensuring that blades for our world-class V-174 turbines are made locally. We look forward to working with Tien Li to supply our customers with Taiwanese blades.’’

MHI Vestas has been awarded firm contracts for the Changfang and Xidao projects developed by CIP (total combined capacity of 589 MW), as well as preferred supplier status for the 300 MW Zhong Neng project co-developed by CSC and CIP.

“We thank the Taiwanese government for its efforts and persistence, which has initiated and facilitated our cooperation,’ said Tien Li General Manager, Jay Hsu. ‘Blades, which are key components of wind turbines, being produced locally will stimulate the research and development of composite materials and will create numerous job opportunities in Taiwan. It is a win-win result. We look forward to our cooperation with MHI Vestas.’’

Along with transferring significant knowledge from blade manufacturing in Europe, this contract will enable MHI Vestas to bring up to 2,900 jobs in blade production to Taiwan between 2020 and 2025. The locally-created jobs will be comprised of both blade manufacturing and blade material jobs. Additionally, the collaboration between TLC and MHI Vestas will also bring up to NT$4.38b in economic value (gross value added) to the Taiwanese economy. Localisation of blade manufacturing represents nearly half of the gross value added to Taiwan currently anticipated from MHI Vestas’ involvement in-country.