Offshore Wind Lifts Taiwan's Wind Power Generation to Record Levels

 

Last week, Taiwan reported peak wind production levels with presence of a strong northeast monsoon off its coast. The state-owned utility company Taipower said that wind power generation started to rise on Thursday, surpassing 3.1 GW by early hours of Friday morning. This record output accounted to 10 percent of the total electricity generation in Taiwan.

The peak production is a positive outcome as Taiwan doubles-down on investments in the offshore wind sector. In January, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) issued an updated plan for the renewable energy, targeting to install 8.2 GW of solar and offshore wind by the end of 2026. This will see renewable energy account for 20 percent of electricity generation by 2026.

In addition, Taipower reported on the steady growth in Taiwan’s wind power generation. The output has rose from around 3 billion kilowatt-hours in 2022 reaching nearly 10 billion kWh last year. These levels of wind power are helping Taiwan meet peak electricity demand during the evening hours while solar power provides a stable output during the day.

One of Taiwan’s largest offshore wind farms, the Yunlin project, entered operation last week. The Yunlin wind farm is now producing clean energy at its design capacity of 640 MW. It is located in the Taiwan Strait, between 5 and 11 miles off the west coast of Taiwan, and comprises 80 wind turbines connected to two onshore substations in Yunlin County. The development and operation of the wind farm is led by a consortium comprising Skyborn Renewables, TotalEnergies, EGCO Group and Sojitz Corp.

“We are pleased with the completion of the Yunlin offshore wind farm. This project realized with our partners will help Taiwan reach its 2025 target of 5.7 GW of offshore wind power,” said Olivier Jouny, Senior Vice President Renewables at TotalEnergies.