Offshore installation at the Hai Long project site will start shortly after the first components are delivered, according to Northland Power, which also said the expanded manufacturing plant was a crucial piece to delivering the timely grid connection of the Hai Long offshore wind farm.
Siemens Gamesa’s nacelle facility in Taichung is the company’s first nacelle manufacturing plant outside Europe. The wind turbine manufacturer began expanding the plant in 2022 to upgrade it into a complete assembly line comprising production lines for hub assembly, nacelle backend assembly, and final nacelle assembly including generator-related work.
The wind turbine components assembled in the newly upgraded plant exceed 10,000 parts, including components sourced from new local Taiwanese suppliers, according to Northland Power, which is building the Hai Long offshore wind farm in a consortium with Mitsui & Co. and Gentari.
The Hai Long consortium and Siemens Gamesa signed the contracts for wind turbine supply and maintenance services in October 2022, shortly after Siemens Gamesa held the groundbreaking ceremony for the new expansion of the nacelle factory.
“Our Taichung plant is a testament to our commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. As of today, 70 percent of all wind turbines in the Taiwan Strait are Siemens Gamesa wind turbines. The Hai Long offshore wind project will be the first to use 14 MW Siemens Gamesa nacelles produced in Taichung”, said Vinod Philip, Executive Vice President of Siemens Energy AG.
