UK Provides Financing to Help Companies Win Taiwan Wind Contracts

The UK government is providing credit guarantees to domestic companies working to build the international export market for offshore wind projects. These initiatives part of the UK Government’s Green Industrial Revolution which includes supporting the UK’s offshore wind sector in its strategy,

UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, announced it is providing a $286 million buyer credit guarantee to help finance the Greater Changhua 1 Offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan. UKEF has now provided £500 million of financing for three offshore wind projects in Taiwan, creating trading opportunities for UK renewable energy companies and supporting green jobs in the UK.

Many international offshore wind companies have set up operations in Taiwan to help meet the market’s ambitious energy transition target, according to UKEF. The financing enables UK firms to better access these opportunities.

The Greater Changhua 1 Offshore Wind Farm, which will be located in the Taiwan Strait, will have a capacity of 605 MW, powering more than 650,000 households, when it is commissioned in 2022. The project is part of a larger four field installation which is expected to be the largest wind-power complex in Taiwan, with the capability to power approximately 2.8 million households. It will help Taiwan to achieve its goal of generating 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025.

Two UK renewable energy companies, Seajacks and Trelleborg’s applied technologies operation in the UK, used UKEF’s support to win export contracts with Ørsted, the company leading the development of the wind farm. Seajacks will ship the material needed to install the turbines and Trelleborg’s applied technologies operation will provide protection systems for the cables which connect the turbines to the mainland.

“By supporting projects like these we can help the UK lead the world in green growth and drive an exports-led, jobs-led recovery from Covid here at home,” says Liz Truss, International Trade Secretary in the UK. “Harnessing the power of renewable energy is a vital part of our plan to build back greener from the pandemic.”

UKEF involvement in this project helped to further grow the renewable energy business in the UK. It is the UK’s export credit agency. It exists to ensure that UK export projects are not hampered by a lack of finance or insurance from the private market. UKEF provides finance and insurance to help exporters win, fulfill, and get paid for export contracts.