Taiwan has excellent natural conditions for offshore wind and is amassing a large pipeline of projects thanks to an ambitious auction schedule.
Already in 2022, more than 2 GW offshore wind could be connected to grid in Taiwan, based on capacity and grid connection year for projects awarded in 2018. While this timeline may be slightly delayed due to COVID-19 and other factors, Taiwan still readies itself for some very busy years in terms of offshore wind installation: All in all, more than 5 GW awarded in 2018 are expected to come online before 2025.
On top of the already awarded project capacity currently waiting to be realized, the government is launching Phase III of its offshore wind development scheme with an auction this summer. Phase III is set to award a total of 9 GW via three auctions from 2022 to 2024.
Taiwan's ambitious offshore wind targets and world-class wind resources have attracted significant interest from international developers, but can the local supply chain handle this high build-out rate?
Local content requirements in Taiwan could cause supply chain bottlenecks
With more than 5 GW of projects planned for installation and grid connection by 2025 and only two demonstration projects installed as of February 2022, the pace of the build-out must increase fast in the next few years to meet expectations.
Meanwhile Taiwan powers on with the coming Phase III auctions, which should result in the installation of an additional 9 GW between 2026 and 2031.
The local supply chain therefore has to scale up quickly. The ambitious installation schedule could result in bottlenecks for port capacity, locally produced supplies or qualified workforce.
Other market characteristics to consider in Taiwan are the capacity limit of 500 MW per developer for upcoming auctions as well as the challenging seabed, which features 80 meters of sand on top of the bedrock, leading to soil liquefaction and large sand waves.
Taiwan’s world class wind resource results in attractive cost of energy
The excellent wind resources with winds speeds above 10 m/s in certain areas around Taiwan ensure attractive LCoE levels, even when using Aegir Quant to factor in extra costs due to challenging conditions.
Aegir Insights’ comprehensive market report on offshore wind in Taiwan is available to our subscribers. The report features an energy policy overview, announced projects, LCoE levels for representative cases, and analysis of the outlook for offshore wind in Taiwan.
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