Fred Olsen Windcarrier will install the turbines for one of Asia’s biggest offshore wind farms so far, the 589MW Changfang and Xidao wind farm off Taiwan.

The Norwegian group’s Brave Tern vessel will place the Vestas V174 9.5MW turbines at the project being developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners off Taiwan, which is due to enter service in 2022 and 2023.

The deal to supply the turbines marked the first firm order for MHI Vestas in Asia, as Taiwan ramps up an offshore wind programme that has made it one of the key global markets outside Europe.

The country is poised to start allocating 10GW under the third stage of its huge offshore wind programme that has already put 5.5GW in train by 2025.

Underpinned by the re-election of Taiwan’s pro-offshore wind president in January, the new round is set to bring new international energy players to the island’s sector, Recharge reported in January.

Brave Tern will carry out the work after it finishes installing the turbines for the 640MW Yunlin wind farm.