SBJ foundations are installed by generating pressure displacement between the inside of the bucket jacket foundation and the seawater outside, enabling it to be installed with virtually no mechanical force or pilings. SBJ foundations are best used for areas of the sea floor that have softer soil and few or no unseen barriers such as boulders beneath the sand, and are particularly suited to water depths of less than 100 metres, explains Ørsted. Installation of SBJ foundations is not always possible in locations with large sand waves or high seabed mobility because of their shallow embedment and significantly larger sea floor footprint.

Located 35–60 km off the coast of Changhua County, Taiwan, the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms are in water depths of 23.8–44.1 metres.

The two wind farms are also Taiwan’s first to be backed by a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA). The deal will see an unnamed corporate customer offtake the wind farms’ full production at a fixed price for 20 years once connected to the Taiwanese electricity grid in 2026.

Once the project completes, Ørsted will reach a combined operational offshore wind capacity in Taiwan of nearly 2 GW. Its Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms entered operation last year. The company currently has 9.9 GW of operational offshore wind capacity installed across three continents, with an additional 8.4 GW of offshore wind under construction.

Record Asia-Pacific offshore wind activity putting developers under pressure

Meanwhile, the offshore wind industry in the wider Asia-Pacific region has 10 GW of offshore wind projects set to begin tendering this year, according to Youwind Renewables, a service provider of digital services including site selection modelling tools.  

‘The region’s wind turbine supply already dwarfs that of manufacturers from other parts of the world, as does the demand for offshore wind,’ says Youwind. ‘The market is also expected to attract increased focus and competition from international developers, driven in part by growing uncertainty and a potential slowdown in US offshore wind,’ it adds.  

Youwind reports that over the past two years, seven leading companies, including developers and advisors, have used its tools to secure 10 projects in Japan and other key offshore wind markets with a total capacity of 9 GW.

Operational offshore wind capacity in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow sixfold by 2030, led by countries like Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan. Japan alone aims to roll out 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and scale this to as much as 45 GW by 2040, reports Youwind. Meanwhile, Japan’s upcoming fourth tendering round, scheduled for early 2025, is ‘a critical opportunity for developers to secure a foothold in one of the world’s most promising markets’, it adds.

Both Japan and South Korea have already laid the groundwork with previous offshore wind auctions, allocating 4 GW and 6 GW, respectively. These projects are slated to go online by 2026, but the ‘competition for future tenders is intensifying’, notes Youwind, with ‘developers under pressure to act swiftly and efficiently to capitalise on these emerging opportunities’.

Click here to read more on what the future holds for Taiwan’s offshore wind sector (EI member access only).