Smulders set to send off last TPs for Yunlin offshore wind farm

Smulders has completed the fabrication of transition pieces (TPs) for the Taiwanese Yunlin offshore wind project.

The company loaded out the last two of the total 40 TPs on 31 August, thus marking the final step in its part of the project.

Currently, the final batch of nine transition pieces is standing ready at the company’s site, waiting for transport to Taiwan.

Smulders sent off the first four transition pieces from its yard in Hoboken, Belgium, in May. The TPs were first shipped to Vlissingen in the Netherlands, where they were then loaded onto a vessel that transported them to Taiwan.

The Yunlin offshore wind farm will consist of 80 wind turbines on monopile foundations.

The remaining 40 transition pieces are being delivered by a local company CTCI Machinery Corporation (CTCI MAC), which dispatched its first TP batch at the beginning of August.

The monopiles have been manufactured by Steelwind Nordenham and Formosa Heavy Industries (FHI) Corporation. Steelwind, which already delivered its 40 monopiles, has also been contracted to supply 120 segments for the 40 monopiles manufactured by FHI.

The 640 MW offshore wind farm, featuring Siemens Gamesa 8 MW turbines installed some 8 kilometres offshore, is scheduled to be fully operational in 2021.

The project is owned by wpd (73 per cent) and a Sojitz Corp-led consortium (27 per cent). The consortium includes Chugoku Electric Power, Chudenko Corporation, Shikoku Electric Power, and JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation.