An offshore wind farm off Taiwan’s west coast has delivered electricity to the national grid for the first time, marking what Danish energy company Ørsted called a “major milestone” for both the company and Taiwan’s clean energy future.
At a glance
- Offshore wind farm: The Greater Changhua 1 & 2a facility sits 35 to 60 kilometers off Taiwan’s west coast and is described by Ørsted as “Taiwan’s biggest offshore wind farm.”
- Wind capacity: Once fully operational, the project will reach approximately 900 megawatts using 111 turbines from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy — enough to meet the power needs of around 1 million households.
- Grid connection: Electricity travels from the turbines through array cables and offshore substations, then via export cables to Ørsted’s onshore substations, before feeding into the national grid through a substation operated by state-owned utility Taipower.
A complex project crosses a key threshold
Christy Wang, general manager of Ørsted Taiwan, acknowledged the difficulty of reaching this point. “Delivering the first power as scheduled is a major milestone for both Ørsted and Taiwan,” Wang said. “This has not been an easy task, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic challenges during the past two years.”
Construction of the full facility was on track to wrap up in 2022 C.E. The first power delivery came after the installation of an initial set of turbines, with electricity transferred via array cables, offshore substations, and export cables before reaching the grid.
The scale of the project reflects Taiwan’s ambitions. The island’s Ministry of Economic Affairs has set a target of 20% renewable energy generation by the mid-2020s C.E., with offshore wind expected to exceed 5.7 gigawatts and solar photovoltaic installations reaching 20 gigawatts by 2025 C.E.
Taiwan’s place in Asia’s offshore wind race
The Global Wind Energy Council’s 2022 C.E. Global Wind Report placed Taiwan second only to China among Asia-Pacific nations in planned offshore wind installations over the near to mid-term. China was projected to add 39 gigawatts of offshore wind over five years, while Taiwan was set to install 6.6 gigawatts. Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan were projected to add 2.2, 1.7, and 1 gigawatt respectively.
That regional context matters. The International Energy Agency has identified offshore wind as one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity worldwide, and Taiwan’s geography — surrounded by the waters of the Taiwan Strait and the Philippine Sea — gives it a significant natural advantage for development.
The gap between ambition and reality
Progress has not always kept pace with plans. The GWEC’s 2022 C.E. report noted that Taiwan should have commissioned more than 1 gigawatt of offshore wind from three projects in 2021 C.E., but only the 109-megawatt Changhua demonstration project came online that year. The council attributed the delay “primarily” to COVID-19 disruption.
The broader energy mix also shows how much work remains. According to Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade, citing Ministry of Economic Affairs data, coal firing accounted for 44.69% of total power generation in 2021 C.E. Natural gas contributed 36.77%, nuclear 9.63%, and renewables just 5.94%. Hitting a 20% renewables target from that baseline will require sustained investment and execution over several years.
Still, first power at Greater Changhua 1 & 2a is a concrete sign of movement. Projects like this one are part of a broader global push toward clean electricity that has been accelerating across Asia and beyond. Data from the International Renewable Energy Agency shows offshore wind costs have fallen sharply over the past decade, making large-scale projects more viable than ever. Taiwan’s investments, if delivered on schedule, could help demonstrate what island nations with strong wind resources can achieve.
The unresolved challenge is one of speed and consistency. Pandemic-era delays exposed how vulnerable large offshore infrastructure projects are to supply chain disruption — a risk that hasn’t disappeared as Taiwan scales toward its 5.7-gigawatt offshore wind target.
Read more
For more on this story, see: CNBC
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Renewables now make up at least 49% of global power capacity
- Indigenous land rights and COP30: 160 million hectares recognized
- The Good News for Humankind archive on Taiwan
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