On December 6, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and the Taiwan International Ports Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding to begin a collaborative investigation into the development of areas of the Taichung harbor in Taiwan for the Offshore wind business.
The non-binding MoU covers investigations of a potential manufacturing site for offshore wind components, office facilities, and staging areas including storage, pre-assembly, and quayside load-out.
"Signing the MoU demonstrates our strong desire to contribute to the development of offshore wind in Taiwan. We fully believe in the potential of this emerging market, and wish to support it with our vast knowledge as an industry leader," states Andreas Nauen, CEO Offshore, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
A timeline has not been set for finalization of the cooperation agreement.
Furthermore, SGRE opened a new office location in Taipei, aimed at increasing offshore wind customer responsiveness in APAC excluding mainland China. The office will act as the offshore wind regional hub, and together with other regional offices in Japan and Korea, it will deliver the latest offshore wind and service portfolios.
"The offshore wind industry in Taiwan is today looking at over 10 GW of projects under planning according to official information. During 2017, strong supportive signs were shown by the Taiwanese government, with detailed grid capacity planning, and an increase of the long term ambitions. Similarly, significant milestones have been completed in the rest of the region. Japan is developing the first utility-scale projects, and Korea has now commissioned their first commercial-sized offshore wind power plant. We look forward to helping ensure that the right infrastructure is in place, as well as maintaining efforts towards further cost reductions," Nauen continues.
In 2016, Siemens Gamesa installed Taiwan's first offshore wind power plant, the 8 MW Formosa Phase 1 demonstration project.