China Steel Power Corporation, formed by China Steel Corporation (CSC) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), recently completed the signing on the contract for the final supply of wind turbines for the Zhongneng Offshore Wind Farm with Vestas, the largest wind turbine supplier in the world. The contract comprises of the design, manufacturing, installation, and commissioning for the wind turbines of the Zhongneng Offshore Wind Farm, as well as the wind turbine services and the service-level agreement after operation.
Located roughly 10km off the coast of Changhua, the Zhongneng Offshore Wind Farm is about 36.5 hectares, and was selected by the Bureau of Energy in May 2018, with 300MW of grid-connected capacity given. Wang Hsih-chin, Chairman of China Steel Power Corporation, commented that the Zhongneng Offshore Wind Farm is expected to complete financing at the end of this year, and will be connected to the grid in 2024.
31 units of Vestas V174-9.5MW offshore wind turbines will be installed after signing this contract, and the wind farm is estimated to provide an annual level of clean energy equivalent to the power consumption of 300K households. In addition, the Zhongneng Offshore Wind Farm that has passed the industry linkage review of the Industrial Development Bureau is expected to complete 27 localized items, such as maritime engineering, production of underwater foundation and wind turbine parts, and onshore power facilities, indicating the highest level of localization in the world.
Joris Hol, CEO of Zhongneng Offshore Wind Farm, commented that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the wind farm remains on a cautious approach by adhering to the development progress of relevant plans, and completing the final supply contract of offshore wind turbines with Vestas, while maintaining a safe working environment for the team. The wind farm is currently marching forward according to the plan, and will unfold construction when the financing is in place. Hsu Nai-wen, Managing Director of CIP, pointed out that CIP is fortunate in co-developing and establishing the Zhongneng Offshore Wind Farm that has the highest ratio of localization. From the transfer of knowledge and technology, to co-building the industry chain of offshore wind farm parts in Taiwan, CSC has always been the most trustworthy partner of CIP on the localization path of offshore wind power.
In order to implement localization policies for the offshore wind farm industry, the Zhongneng Offshore Wind Farm and the Changfang & Xidao Offshore Wind Farms of CIP are adopted with block integration and joint development to actuate the development of the localized industry chain for offshore wind farm turbine parts under a combined scale of 900MW. The final supply contract of wind turbines signed between China Steel Power Corporation and Vestas comprises of more than 14 localized items for critical offshore wind turbine parts, including blades, fasteners, hubs, and towers. This signing of contract establishes localized energy for the offshore wind farm industry through the synergistic effort from offshore wind developers, system integrators, and various companies of the supply chain.
(Cover photo source: Vestas)