MHI Vestas Puts Pen to Paper in Taiwan

After securing the preferred supplier status on projects with a combined capacity of 1.5GW in Taiwan, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind signed a series of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with local companies covering tower and blade manufacturing, as well as the supply of materials for blade production.

MHI Vestas has signed China Steel Machinery Corporation (CSMC) to provide towers for the 9MW turbine platform on offer in Taiwan. The production will be based in Kaohsiung.

Tien Li will manufacture the blades for the wind turbines in Taichung.

“In response to the government’s offshore policy, Tien Li Offshore Wind Technology Co., Ltd. (TLC) plans to set up a blade factory in Taichung Harbour to develop a local supply chain for offshore wind power in Taiwan,” Tien Li President, Jonathan Lin, said.

”TLC will combine European technology and Taiwanese management to provide blades to MHI Vestas. TLC is confident in its ambition to become the third professional offshore blade company in the world.”

Formosa Plastics Corporation (FPC) will provide materials for blade manufacturing. Swancor was signed to supply composites and resins for the blade manufacturing process.

Robert Tsai, Chairman of Swancor, said: “As the pioneer of Taiwanese offshore wind farm development, Swancor is not only providing the experience to support localisation but also cooperating with MHI Vestas on wind turbine blade materials, including infusion epoxy resin, bonding paste and carbon fibre plates. I believe that this cooperation with MHI Vestas will help Taiwanese local suppliers to enter the global supply chain and help advance Taiwan offshore wind development.”

According to MHI Vestas, the agreements are the realisation of the company’s manufacturing strategy for the region and leverage the unparalleled experience in energy infrastructure of the Mitsubishi Group in Taiwan.

“The Taiwan offshore wind market has impressively put itself in a front-runner position in the region. Having the benefit of early selection of a portfolio of projects allows us to enter into these manufacturing agreements with great confidence. We are honoured to announce these partnerships today – partnerships that will spur the expansion of highly-skilled, local manufacturing jobs,” said MHI Vestas incoming CEO, Philippe Kavafyan.

The four agreements form a strong foundation of supplier partnerships for MHI Vestas, with more on the way, the company said.

“In bringing our market-leading 9 MW turbine platform and a rich heritage of energy infrastructure experience through Mitsubishi Group, MHI Vestas is well positioned to be the market leader in Taiwan,” Mitsubishi Corporation Taiwan Chairman & CEO, Koji Nemoto, said.

“With this background, we highly welcome and fully support MHI Vestas for its market entry to the emerging offshore wind market in Taiwan and we are confident that they will greatly contribute to realising the energy transition in Taiwan.”

As reported earlier, MHI Vestas signed preferred supplier agreements with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and China Steel Corporation (CSC) for three offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of 1.5GW.

The agreement with CIP covers two projects with a combined capacity of 950MW, while the agreement with CSC is for the Zone 29 project.