Offshore wind turbine maker MHI Vestas Offshore Wind and developer Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) have secured a 5000 square meter site in Taiwan, to support the construction of CIP’s Changfang & Xidao Offshore Wind Project.
The site, leased from Fortune Electric, is located centrally in zone 1 of Taichung Harbour adjacent to the pre-assembly quayside of CIP’s Changfang & Xidao Offshore Wind Project.
For certain MHI Vestas projects, turbine hub assembly is expected to be carried out on the site, as well as final nacelle-related assembly and testing, MHI Vestas said.
Hub assembly activities at Fortune’s site will involve some of the offshore wind components made locally in Taiwan, including hub plates from Yeong Guan Energy Technology Group (YGG) and spinner covers from the Atech / Fassmer (FACT) joint venture.
“We are delighted to secure this centrally-located site from Fortune in Taichung Harbour,” said Maida Zahirovic, MHI Vestas Taiwan Business Director. “Sustainable localization also requires sufficient sites for offshore wind project activities to be carried out safely. The Fortune site is a suitable location for some of the ground-breaking manufacturing work MHI Vestas is bringing to Taiwan. This will be a key central location for MHI Vestas’ activities in Taiwan and we are pleased to secure the space.”
Changfang and Xidao (CFXD) wind farm Chief Executive Officer Dennis Sanou said: “The Changfang and Xidao Offshore Wind Project has found with MHI Vestas a reliable partner in making sure that we can produce and install offshore wind turbines with the highest percentage of turbine components fabricated in Taiwan. We are glad to see that, by the signing of the Fortune lease agreement, MHI Vestas has taken another positive step in securing its Taiwanese supply chain.”
The Fortune site comes with space for assembly of turbines, warehouse and office space, along with additional capacity for storage of components. The building is also equipped with an overhead cranes and adequate land bearing capacity, to transport large offshore wind turbine components around the site.
This lease agreement comes in the wake of multiple supply chain contracts that have been signed by MHI Vestas in Taiwan to meet the demand from CIP’s Changfang & Xidao Offshore Wind Project, including for local supply of blades, transformer, blade materials (bonding glue, resin, pultruded carbon plates), towers, switchgear, rotor hubs, hub plates, nacelle base frames, low voltage cabinets, UPS systems, and PCM assembly.
"At present, MHI Vestas is the only wind turbine manufacturer to procure blades, transformer, blade materials, switchgear, and cables from within Taiwan," MHi Vestas said.