EnBW is preparing three offshore wind projects with a capacity of 2GW to participate in Taiwan’s third auction for wind at sea, which the German utility says is planned for this year.

EnBW has developed the projects off the island’s Changhua region since early 2018, but had been unsuccessful in Taiwan’s first two offshore wind auctions last year that tendered off 5.5GW in capacity to be built by the end of 2025.

Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy (BOE) last week said it is considering a 1GW-per-year additional offshore build-out for the 2026-30 period, but an official said auctions are not the only option as a future allocation measure for offshore acreage. The bureau will hold meetings in April and May to discuss measures for third phrase allocation.

Taiwan is currently rebuilding relations with the offshore wind sector after the row over delayed permits that soured its first spate of procurement last year.

To boost its chances in the East Asian offshore market, EnBW has set up its own representative office in Taiwan.

“Taiwan is a strategically important market for us. That’s why we are very pleased to be advancing offshore wind projects from our own office in Taipei now,” chief technology officer Hans-Josef Zimmer said during the inauguration attended by some 70 high-ranking guests from business, politics and science.

EnBW owns a 37.5% stake in the Changhua projects called 'Formosa 3', with Australian investor Macquarie Capital and Taiwanese industrial company Swancor holding the remaining stakes.

“Like Germany, Taiwan is undergoing a major transformation of its energy sector and working on an ‘Energiewende’ [energy transition] of its own. This makes Taiwan an important target market for us in the region,” said Markus Wild, who heads the EnBW branch in Taiwan.

The utility, which is majority owned by the German state of Baden-Württemberg, has assembled an eleven-member team of experts in Taipei which works closely with its offshore office in Hamburg.

Taiwan plans to phase out nuclear energy by as early as 2025, although there have been political disagreements about that target. In the past it had accounted for up to 20% of power generation, EnBW said.

Renewable energy, and offshore wind power in particular, are to be greatly expanded to make up for the resulting shortfall.

Yuki Yu contributed to this article

Wind

EnBW readies 2GW for Taiwan offshore wind tender this year