After passing the “Industry Linkage Program” conditionally, Hai Long Offshore Wind Project has announced another good news, which is the expansion on the preferred supplier agreement with Siemens Gamesa. Apart from the existing 300MW Hai Long 2A Wind Farm, Hai Long 2B (232MW) and Hai Long 3 (512MW) will also be incorporated in the future, with the total installed capacity of the cooperation now arriving at 1,044MW (=1.04GW).

The Hai Long Offshore Wind Project is co-developed by Northland Power and Yushan Energy, of which three wind farms are located 45-55km off the coast of Changhua, and are expected to operate successively in 2024. The 300MW 2A wind farm is scheduled to connect to the grid in 2024, and shoulders 27 localized items, which explains its arduous approval procedure for the industry related implementation solution, and was finally passed under conditions in April.

Tamura Jun, Executive VP of Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project, commented that he is grateful for Siemens Gamesa, CDWE, and other local partners now that the project has passed the Industry Linkage Program conditionally, for which Hai Long had been working diligently for over two years. The project will be dedicated to the final investment decision in mid-2022 and the commercial operation between 2025 and 2026.

Several good news have arrived after passing the industry linkage program, including the agreement on preserving the capacity of underwater foundation piles that has been signed between CDWE and CSBC, where the latter will be supplying the foundation piles for the 300MW 2A wind farm of the Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project in the future. The project has announced today the expansion of the collaboration with Siemens Gamesa, where the previous scope of cooperation on wind turbines and repair services that was only restricted to the localized 2A wind farm is now expanded to all affiliated wind farms, which creates additional localization opportunities for the other two wind farms in the future.

The latest SG 14-222DD wind turbine of Siemens Gamesa, which is a 14MW wind turbine, may be incorporated in the future. Niels Steenberg, Chairman and Managing Director at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Offshore Wind Ltd., commented the wind turbine stands taller than the Shin Kong Life Tower (244m) at approximately 247m, where a single spin will generate enough power for 20K units of rice cookers, and weighs at 500 tons, which is roughly 250 units of small EU sedans.

Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project had submitted the environmental deviation report 9 months ago in the hope of elevating the initially planned 6-9.5MW wind turbines to 11-15MW, which was approved by the preliminary review in March, and will be entering the environmental impact assessment review in May. The project hopes that the review takes into account the lesser environmental degree from large wind turbines and the fewer installation quantity in order to avoid postponement in the relevant schedule.

Responding to the expanded collaboration with Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project, Siemens Gamesa has also planned to establish an assembly plant at Taichung Port for offshore wind turbine cockpits, where the expanded construction include cockpit assembly, testing, warehouses, offices, and outdoor warehouses. A doubled land area will be used to construct two production lines and one warehouse, and double the amount of factory workers is also expected to be hired to achieve the final vision of a maximum capacity and the ability of exports. Steenberg commented that the opening ceremony for the plant will be hosted at the end of July, and will first support the Greater Changhua offshore wind farms of Orsted, then unfold the 2.0 expansion when Hai Long achieves financing and government approval in 2022.

Regarding the establishment progress and the localization target of offshore wind power, Felipe Montero, Director of Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project, pointed out that the wind farm has yet to sustain any impact from the pandemic, and the focus should be placed on the localization progress, where partial suppliers may require help in elevating production capacity. Montero commented that he hopes to see the localization strategies of Hai Long supporting the local industry chain and increasing international competitiveness. Among which, Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project has already invested NT$45-70 billion, and will be creating more than 5,200 direct employment opportunities.

 (Cover photos source: captured by <TechNews>)