Heavily laden transport ships are repeatedly arriving at the ports of Mailiao and Anping in Taiwan at present. Their cargo: monopiles and so-called transition pieces manufactured in Europe and destined for the construction of wpd’s Yunlin offshore wind farm. But not all the components of the foundation structures for the total of 80 turbines in the project are produced in Europe. 50% are made locally in Taiwan.
This is part of the comprehensive local content strategy pursued by wpd, an important prerequisite for winning the Yunlin contract in 2018. This strategy, which serves to incentivise domestic production, comprises the manufacture of 40 monopiles at Formosa Heavy Industries Corp. in Mailiao, Yunlin County (FHI), the production of 40 transition pieces at CTCI Machinery Corp. (CTCI) in Kaohsiung, the creation of 40 turbine towers in a joint venture between CS Wind and Chin Fong in Taichung and the engineering, construction and commissioning of 2 substations by GE Taiwan.
Over the course of the last few months, the wpd project team has worked intensively with local industry to organise the processes and build the infrastructure for producing the various parts. wpd has thus achieved an important milestone in the implementation of the local content strategy for the Yunlin project. A genuine pioneering feat as for the local manufacturers of monopiles, transition pieces and towers, these were the first orders in connection with the structural realisation of offshore wind farms.
For FHI and CTCI, in particular, this has offered them the opportunity to apply their existing know-how from plant engineering in a new field. At FHI, the new production line designed specifically for the Yunlin project received the green light in the middle of January with the result that production of the first monopiles got off to a successful start. CTCI built a new production facility to manufacture the transition pieces, and all the production steps have been implemented there since August 2019.
By working intensively with local industry, wpd can exploit all the strengths which the company can call and rely on with its experienced local team thanks to its flexibility and commitment as well as its extensive know-how garnered from projects already realised. “Our hard work and our faith in local industry are paying off. Successful implementation of the local content strategy is good news, particularly with regard to the tight overall schedule for the project”, states Project Manager Eike Schimanski with satisfaction.
The offshore construction phase is due to begin in April with the aim of installing all monopiles and transition pieces by the end of the year. Successful implementation of the local content strategy is thus becoming a flagship policy as it will play a major role in future tenders in Taiwan. It is well understood in the Taiwanese wind market that wpd is equipped for this task.
