Floating specialists target 2.5GW Taiwan pipeline

TAIWAN: A subsidiary of French floating specialists Eolfi and Spanish industrial company Cobra Concesiones have formed a partnership to deliver five 500MW projects off the Taiwanese coast.

by Craig Richard 4 January 2018

The 8MW Formosa demonstration project was Taiwan's first offshore wind farm (pic credit: Orsted)

Cobra Concesiones is now the majority shareholder in Eolfi Greater China, a subsidiary of Eolfi which has been active in Taiwan since 2012.

Eolfi Greater China has been developing a portfolio of five 500MW projects off the Taiwanese coast, including the W1N project, which could be world’s first utility-scale floating wind farm when commissioned. W1N is due to be operational in 2022, Eolfi stated.

Other projects are not yet named and turbine suppliers have not been decided, but sites off Taiwan's northwest coast have been selected and environmental assessments are being carried out, Eolfi added.

The new partnership with Cobra Concesiones will "speed up development" of the 2.5GW pipeline, the two companies claimed.

Alain Delsupexhe, chairman of Eolfi, said: "This project brings to fruition the strategic initiative that we engaged in when we entered Taiwan. Eolfi thus consolidates its role as a pioneer in floating wind turbines on a global scale."

Eolfi is developing the 28km off the coast of Brittany in northwest of France.

Its new partner, Cobra Concesiones, is developing the 15km off the coast of Aberdeen in northeast Scotland.