Mitsui, Northland to establish 1 GW wind farm in Taiwan

Mitsui & Co and Northland Power Inc have finalized a plan to establish a 1 gigawatt offshore wind farm in Taiwan, which is expected to cost JPY 960 billion ($6.5 billion).

The project, which is 60% owned by Northland and 40% owned by Mitsui, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 to generate a total of 1.022 gigawatt – which matches the annual power consumption of 1 million homes.

The project includes the construction of 73 large wind turbines in the offshore region, 45-70 kilometers off Changhua county. It will be comprised of 3 sections – HL2A, HL2B and HL3.

The HL2A section is to sell electricity to Taiwan Power Company under a 20-year power purchase agreement, Mitsui & Co said.

And, the HL2B and HL3 sections will sell electricity to a private power user in Taiwan under a 30-year agreement.

In terms of total cost, Mitsui is expected to provide JPY 260 billion (JPY 170 billion in equity and loans plus JPY 90 billion in guarantees), and nearly JPY 540 billion will be ensured via project finance.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and DEME Offshore Holding are some of the contractors for the project

“We want to accumulate knowledge and experience from this project and apply them to subsequent projects,” Takehiko Ainoya, general manager of Mitsui’s infrastructure projects business unit, was quoted as saying by Reuters.