Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy today held a launch ceremony with local government authorities and wind industry partners in Taiwan for what will be the company’s first offshore nacelle assembly facility outside of Europe. Construction is due to begin in 2020 at the site located in the port of Taichung. This represents an important milestone for the company in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region. Siemens Gamesa currently has offshore nacelle assembly and manufacturing facilities in Germany and Denmark.
The parcel of land being developed in Taiwan measures over 30,000 square meters, and will be used for nacelle assembly, testing, warehousing, office buildings, and outdoor storage. Siemens Gamesa is also working closely with Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) to establish inbound and outbound logistics in newly-established quaysides nearby.
“Our strategic investment in Taichung harbor with this nacelle assembly facility continues as previously communicated. Doing so ahead of the local content requirement timeframe demonstrates our confidence in the long-term potential of offshore wind power for Taiwan and other APAC markets. The strong foothold we are building here will enable us to better meet our customers’ needs in this market and in other parts of the region,” says Andreas Nauen, CEO of the Offshore Business Unit in SGRE.
Construction is planned to begin in 2020, and production in 2021. The facility will then support Ørsted’s 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a project, for which the SG 8.0-167 DD turbine will be used. In later years, it will provide an option for the supply of nacelles to other regional projects.
“Thanks to this nacelle assembly facility, we will be creating more opportunities of working with the growing localized supplier network as well as developing a skilled offshore workforce. All these efforts will contribute to building a competitive local supply chain, in line with international standards in terms of safety, costs, quality, and making Taiwan a leading offshore market,” says Niels Steenberg, General Manager of Siemens Gamesa Offshore for Asia-Pacific.
The long-term collaboration between SGRE and TIPC was first officialized in December 2017 via a Memorandum of Understanding. Both parties agreed to cooperate towards developing Taichung harbor for the offshore wind power industry.
In 2016, Siemens Gamesa erected Taiwan’s first two offshore turbines composing the 8 MW Formosa 1 Phase 1 project. The company is currently installing the subsequent phase, the 120 MW Formosa 1 Phase 2 project. This is Taiwan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind power project, and features 20 SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines. Siemens Gamesa has signed contracts in Asia Pacific for close to 2 GW of offshore wind power projects for the years to come, including 1.5 GW of confirmed orders.
