Offshore construction on the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms started in the summer of 2021 with the installation of the first wind turbine jacket foundation and the laying of the first export cable.
A year later, all the jacket foundations were installed at the construction site, located 35-50 kilometres off the coast of Changhua County.
The wind farm produced its first power in April 2022, after the installation and energisation of the first batch of its Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines.
Last month, Ørsted announced that nearly 85 per cent of the wind turbines were connected to the grid, representing approximately 700 MW of the expected 900 MW wind farm capacity.
Initially, Greater Changhua 1 and 2a were planned to be completed in 2023 but that was pushed back to 2024 after the developer announced that it was experiencing delays due to bottlenecks in the supply chain.
“We now look ahead to the final commissioning and delivering renewable energy for decades to come,” said Kristensen.
Once fully commissioned, Changhua 1 and 2a will be Taiwan’s first far offshore and large-scale offshore wind project.
The 605 MW Greater Changhua 1 is owned by Ørsted (50 per cent), and a consortium comprising Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and the Taiwanese private equity fund, Cathay PE (50 per cent).
The 295 MW Changhua 2a is owned solely by Ørsted. The wind farms are being developed by Ørsted.
In addition to the abovementioned wind farms, Ørsted is also developing the 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b and 4 projects in Taiwanese waters, scheduled for completion by the end of 2025.
