Taiwan nods to financing deal for 640-MW Yunlin offshore project

The developers of the Yunlin offshore wind project in Taiwanese waters have secured all approvals to complete the project’s financial restructuring and progress with the 640-MW park’s construction.

The approvals were awarded by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Energy Administration following a financial arrangement announced in the summer of last year, Skyborn Renewables GmbH said on Tuesday. The German firm is building the offshore wind complex along with France’s TotalEnergies SE (EPA:TTE), Thai power producer Electricity Generating PCL (EGCO) and Japanese trader Sojitz Corporation.

“This marks the final step required to secure the financing for the project’s completion [..],” said Thomas Karst, CEO of Skyborn.

Skyborn, known as wpd offshore GmbH up until 2022 when the firm was acquired by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), achieved financial closing on the Yunlin project back in 2019. The offshore complex is being installed in an 82-sq-km area in the Taiwan Strait, between eight and 17 km off the west coast of Taiwan. The first of its 80 Siemens Gamesa turbines were commissioned in November 2021 but the project got a significant delay after that.

Currently, Yunlin has 34 of its turbines erected and feeding electricity into the national power grid. The remaining machines are planned to go online in 2024. The offshore wind park will be run under two 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with utility Taiwan Power Co (Taipower).

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