Ørsted kicks off offshore installation of Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms

Located 35-60km from the coastline of Changhua County, the first large-scale and far shore offshore wind farms in Taiwan are scheduled to be finalized by 2022 to provide clean energy to one million households.

Ørsted has kicked off the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to prepare for cable laying and scour protection work to make ready the seabed for foundation installation. Moreover, Ørsted is progressing well with the onshore construction, including completing the civil works of the two onshore substation main buildings and the upgrade work of hinterland at Wharfs 36 and 37 at the Port of Taichung to store the key components for offshore installation.

Matthias Bausenwein, President of Ørsted Asia-Pacific, says: “Ørsted’s vision is to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. With 30 years of experience and an end-to-end business model of developing, constructing, and operating offshore wind farms, Ørsted has been committed since day one to helping Taiwan build first world-class offshore wind farms to provide clean energy and contribute to its energy transition goal. The commencement of offshore installation of the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms signifies a landmark step towards achieving that goal of making Taiwan greener.”

Christy Wang, Ørsted Taiwan General Manager, says: “After nearly 1,800 days of relentless hard work, we are now ready to commence all offshore installation. This is not an easy task, especially with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we have demonstrated our profound offshore wind project management experience and expertise to  successfully secure the vessels and personnel, making it possible for us to be on time for the offshore construction. Together with a combination of foreign and domestic suppliers, Ørsted will ensure high performance of industrial Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental standards, fulfill our EIA commitments throughout the construction phase and deliver the wind farms on time.” 

Ranked by Corporate Knights as the most sustainable energy company, Ørsted is dedicated to protecting the environment during construction by utilizing state-of-the-art technology available in the market. Ørsted’s suppliers have recruited the Taiwan Cetacean Observers (TCO) certified by Ocean Conservation Administration, the members including Changhua fishermen and non-governmental ecological organization, to support offshore construction activities.

Moreover, the offshore construction will be supported by a wide range of marine engineering, and vessels suppliers and personnel from home and abroad. It is estimated that during peak times there will be more than 25 vessels mobilized, including crew transfer vessels, installation and support vessels, service operation vessels and guard vessels as well as 500-800 people working on-site simultaneously at sea.

In addition to offshore construction, Ørsted has been preparing for the operations and maintenance (O&M) work since 2019 and established a local O&M team with 21 Taiwanese O&M technicians, with four more expected to join in the near future. These technicians are currently under intensive professional O&M trainings and will be based at Ørsted’s new O&M base at the Port of Taichung starting 2022. From there they will take the first Taiwan-flagged service operation vessel to perform their O&M duties, ensuring optimal performance of the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms.