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Taiwan’s first floating offshore wind site announced
14/8/2024
News
BlueFloat Energy has revealed the location for the 180 MW Winds of September Phase 1 project, part of Taiwan’s Floating Demonstration Programme, due to be launched later this year by the Taiwanese government.
The project will feature up to 12 floating platforms located 23 km offshore of the north-western coastal city of Hsinchu.
Since 2021, an energy yield assessment has been conducted, as well as an environmental and social impact assessment, plus geophysical surveys of environmental constraints and soil conditions, which have guided the selection and layout of the project site.
BlueFloat Energy has also entered a collaboration agreement with the country’s Metal Industries Research and Development Centre to analyse the capacity of Taiwan’s local manufacturing supply chain for floating offshore wind mooring and anchoring systems.
Named after the strong monsoon winds blowing in the Hsinchu region every September, the Winds of September project has a planned total capacity of over 1,000 MW, spanning an area of around 125 km2 at about 70–80 metres water depth.
Tokyo Gas and Ocean Winds join forces in Portugal
In other news, Tokyo Gas is to invest in the WindFloat Atlantic floating offshore wind farm in Portugal, operated by Windplus, a majority-owned subsidiary of developer Ocean Winds.
WindFloat Atlantic, which began commercial operation in 2020, is the world’s first semi-submersible floating offshore wind farm. Located 20 km off the coast of Viana do Castelo, northern Portugal, it has a total capacity of 25.2 MW (8.4 MW x 3 units).
Tokyo Gas and Ocean Winds are already co-shareholders of Principle Power, developers of the WindFloat floating foundation system employed by the wind farm. The system has proven its ability to operate under severe weather conditions, including maximum wave heights of 20 metres and maximum wind gusts of 38.8 m/s.
The agreement represents Tokyo Gas’s first direct investment in a floating offshore wind power project overseas.
The WindFloat Atlantic floating offshore wind farm, Portugal
Photo: Ocean Winds
