Belgian contractor DEME’s Taiwanese unit has signed a contract that includes the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of foundations, cabling, transportation and installation of turbines at Northland Power’s 744MW Hai Long 2&3 wind project off Taiwan.

The project had won a June 2018 tender with an average price of TWD2,245 ($73.5) per megawatt hour, with the Canadian utility as lead operator owning 60%. Taiwan’s Yushan energy and Japanese conglomerate Mitsui each hold another 20%.

DEME signed the so-called balance of plant (BOP) preferred supplier agreement (PSA) agreement through CSBC DEME Wind Engineering (CDWE), a joint venture between Taiwanese shipbuilder CSBC Corporation and DEME Offshore.

To meet the localisation requirements of Taiwan’s Industrial Development Bureau of Energy CDWE earlier this year had launched a large-scale audit consultation of Taiwanese steel fabricators and marine engineering services providers, to assess local capabilities, and set up a local team under its direction.

Localisation rules have been a matter of tension between Taiwan’s government and developers.

DEME stressed it and CSBC had set up CDWE to facilitate co-operation with European experts and to ensure the availability in Taiwan of foreign expertise in the fields of project management, fleet management, installation techniques and marine works safety.

DEME said it will start offshore installation of Hai Long 2&3 in 2023.

The agreement was signed under the auspices of Taiwan’s ministry of economic affairs.