TIPC Allocates NT$3.5 B for Port of Taichung Wind Farm Advancement

[By: TIPC]

TIPC, in its continued support of the country’s national offshore wind power development initiative, held a groundbreaking ceremony today (March 26th) at the future site of Port of Taichung Wharf No. 38 to welcome the start of construction on Wharf Nos. 37 and 38. The ceremony was hosted by ROC Premier Chien-jen Chen, who was accompanied by key central government leaders, including Executive Yuan Spokesperson Bing-cheng Lo, MOTC Deputy Minister Wen-jong Chi, and MOEA Bureau of Energy Director General Cheng-wei Yu. Also invited were Legislative Yuan Vice President Chi-chang Tsai, Legislator Ching-yi Lin, Taichung City Transportation Bureau Chief Secretary Chih-wen Kuo. All attendees witnessed together the formal start of work on these two new wharves.

TIPC Chairman Hsien-yi Lee noted that his company first initiated planning for critical heavy lift wharves at Port of Taichung in 2015 and, since 2019, has completed reinforcement work on several existing wharves, including nos. 2, 5A, 5B, 36, 106, and 107, all of which are now being used by firms engaged in wind turbine components manufacturing and assembly. He further noted that, while work on three offshore wind farms (Formosa 1: 128MW; Taipower 1: 109.2MW; and Hailong: 376MW) had already finished, work is continuing on Chong Feng (640MW), Greater Changhua (900MW), and CFXD (600MW). The past several years of the global COVID-19 pandemic slowed progress on wind farm installation schedules, leading to increased demand from related firms for storage space at Port of Taichung that TIPC is now actively working to meet.

To help achieve key national offshore wind power directives, including linking wind farms with the national power grid before 2025 and maintaining wind farm installation progress, TIPC allocated NT$3.5 billion to build two completely new heavy lift wharves at Port of Taichung for wind turbine pre-assembly operations. When completed, Wharf Nos. 37 and 38 will extend for a combined 580m in length and have designed live load capacities of 40mt per square meter. These wharves will enhance the quality of services provided to the offshore wind power sector, increase current wind farm development throughput capacity, step up progress on scheduled phase-two work, and take full part in post-2026 phase-three wind farm development work. 

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, phase-three wind farm development work, to begin after 2026, will add three new 500MW capacity wind farms and 1.5GW of green energy to Taiwan’s national grid each year. Based on the support infrastructure in place at that time (after completion of Wharf Nos. 37 and 38), Port of Taichung will have three major pre-assembly sites, centered on Wharves 5A, 5B, 36, 37, and 38. Each may be used to independently support the specific needs of one offshore wind farm, allowing the creation of wind-farm-specific industry clusters and streamlining the on and offsite transportation of turbine components and assemblies. These sites will further benefit from the expeditious completion of the port’s 50ha Southern Reclamation Area (SRA) and rezoning and development of 47 hectares of current windbreak forest, which will give each pre-assembly site access to 30ha of land for components storage. Thus, each pre-assembly site will have exclusive access to one 400m wharf and 30ha of land. Furthermore, in line with future industry development needs such as floating offshore wind turbines, Port of Taichung’s Domestic Offshore Wind Industry District is expected to play a leading role in providing the support and capacity necessary to further raise Taiwan’s profile and importance in the global offshore wind power sector.