Japan Group Buys Stake in Taiwan Offshore Wind

A group of Japanese investors - JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy, Sojitz Corp and other Japanese firms - have joined German wind farm developer Wpd in the 640MW Yunlin offshore wind project off Taiwan.

The Japanese group will take a 27% stake in in Taiwan's Yunneng Wind Power for an undisclosed sum, said a joint press release.    

By December 2021, Yunneng plans to construct a 640MW wind farm offshore of Yunlin County and sell power to Taiwan Power Company over a 20-year period, using a feed-in tariff scheme under Taiwan’s Renewable Energy Development Act.

The project supports Taiwan’s plan to introduce a total of 5.5GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2025 along the west coast of the region, which has been designated as the development area.

JXTG intends to acquire expertise in the offshore wind power business, which has great potential not only in Taiwan but also in other parts of the world, and contribute to the realization of a low-carbon society through the development of renewable energy businesses.

Yunlin, eight kilometres off the southwest coast of Taiwan, will be completed in two phases next year and in 2021. Siemens Gamesa with its 8MW turbines was awarded the turbine order for the wind farm in 2018.

WPD head of M&A Helge Rau said: “With the acquisition of the consortium around Sojitz as a co-investor we could achieve another important milestone for the project securing the equity financing of the so far largest offshore wind farm in Taiwan."