Pioneering again in Taiwan: Siemens Gamesa inaugurates new offshore nacelle assembly facility

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy again pioneers the Taiwanese offshore wind power industry by today officially inaugurating its new offshore facility in Taichung. This is the company’s first offshore nacelle assembly facility outside of Europe. The ceremony was attended together by central and local government authorities and wind industry partners.

As announced in 2019, the facility will now be starting regular operations, after having already completed Taiwan’s very first local offshore wind turbine nacelle assembly in early August 2021. This represents another important milestone for the company in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, as well as for the offshore wind industry in Taiwan.

“Siemens Gamesa leads the way in providing wind turbine solutions for the Taiwanese offshore wind market with 2 GW of firm orders and an additional 1 GW in place as preferred supplier. Today’s inauguration demonstrates our pioneering spirit and commitment to leading the offshore revolution in the market and the APAC region. Working with dedicated, local professionals who strive to safely increase the deployment of offshore wind power energizes us to continue with our global growth plans,” says Marc Becker, CEO of the Offshore Business Unit in Siemens Gamesa.

The piece of land developed in Taichung measures over 30,000 square meters, and is currently used for nacelle assembly, testing, warehousing, office buildings, and outdoor storage. Construction started in April 2020 and was completed in Q3 this year. It will support Ørsted’s 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms, which will employ SG 8.0-167 DD offshore wind turbines. It will also provide an option for future projects in Taiwan and in the rest of the promising region.

With Siemens Gamesa’s inauguration of Taiwan’s first nacelle assembly facility, we have achieved the significant milestone in development of offshore wind industry, and it is also seen as an important step in the implementation of local content for the industry. This is just a beginning, and I sincerely hope Siemens Gamesa can continue to expand its footprint in terms of local content and play the constructive role in enabling Taiwan’s energy transition,“ says Shen Jong-Chin, Vice Premier of Executive Yuan, Taiwan.

“We are very proud to once again deliver on our promises in Taiwan, together with our client Ørsted, our contractors, central and local authorities who have contributed and guided us throughout the process. We are confident that with the right policy framework on offshore wind, we will help Taiwan realize a cleaner and more sustainable future. We are looking forward to leveraging this local footprint to serve this purpose and deliver offshore wind nacelles to projects in the region,” says Niels Steenberg, General Manager of Siemens Gamesa Offshore for Asia-Pacific.

Matthias Bausenwein, President of Ørsted Asia-Pacific, says: “Ørsted is spearheading offshore wind development in Asia-Pacific, leveraging more than 30 years of experience in this industry. In Taiwan, we have, from day one, taken solid steps in building an offshore wind eco-system. This nacelle assembly facility well demonstrates that it takes projects with scale, thorough planning and preparation, and commitment of significant and experienced resources to build a strong supply chain, consisting of competitive local suppliers and international best-in-class suppliers, who are determined to invest in Taiwan.”

Siemens Gamesa was awarded the firm order to supply 111 SG 8.0-167 DD offshore wind turbines to Ørsted’s Greater Changhua 1 & 2a projects in January 2019. This order accelerated the development of the now-inaugurated offshore nacelle assembly facility.

Christy Wang, General Manager of Ørsted Taiwan, remarks: “In the supply chain plan that Ørsted submitted in 2019, we made extensive additional local content commitments, including building a nacelle assembly facility in Taiwan by our wind turbine supplier. Today’s inauguration is excellent evidence that we are going above and beyond local content requirements and highlights the concrete contributions of Ørsted to support long term development of Taiwan’s offshore wind industry. We are delighted to see this important project milestone realised for our Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms, and we look forward to seeing the on time and on quality delivery of the wind turbines and nacelles next year by Siemens Gamesa. “

”As part of the ramp-up program of the facility, Siemens Gamesa committed to supporting local offshore wind professionals, and developing their skills to match world-class manufacturing standards. Since May 2021, approximately 80 nacelle technicians received Siemens Gamesa Technical Trainings through a partnership with the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre. This dedicated training plan was crucial to enabling the on-time production start in August 2021.

“Siemens Gamesa is the world’s leader in the offshore wind industry. Today with the inauguration of Taiwan’s first offshore wind nacelle assembly facility, it establishes Taiwan as the offshore wind industrial hub in Asia-Pacific. This development has direct positive effects on the economics of and local employment in the Taichung Industrial Zone II,” says Bruce J.D. Linghu, Deputy Mayor of the Taichung City Government.

Siemens Gamesa pioneered the entire offshore wind industry in Taiwan in 2016 with the installation of the first two turbines at the 8 MW Formosa 1 Phase 1 pilot project. A ten-fold increase in machines to 20 units was installed in 2019 at Formosa 1 Phase 2. Totaling 128 MW, Formosa 1 was the country’s first commercial offshore wind power project.