Taiwan International Ports Corporation, Ltd.

The Taiwan International Port Corporation (TIPC)’s Port of Taichung subsidiary signed the “Lease and Operating Agreement for Port of Taichung Wharf No. 43, Lot Behind Wharf No. 42, Port Industry (1) Lot, and Wharf Facilities” with the Taiwan Branch of Jan De Nul N.V. (Belgium). This lease agreement, covering a total of around 15ha of land, will be used for the handling, assembly, and storage of underwater support elements and as a staging base for upcoming work on underwater support structures at the Formosa 2 Offshore Wind Farm.

Taiwan’s first demonstration wind farm, the Formosa 1, marked an important milestone in the country’s move into sustainable wind energy. Formosa 1, which began commercial operations in November of last year (2019), operates a total of 22 wind turbines with a combined generation capacity of 128MW. Jan De Nul N.V., a turnkey contractor of underwater support structures for offshore wind turbines, established a base of operations at the Port of Taichung in November 2018 and was a key supplier to the Formosa 1 demonstration wind farm project.

Since the start of commercial power generation at Formosa 1, the focus of national offshore wind energy policy has turned to the development of other high-potential offshore wind farm sites, with many contractors already engaged in related construction work. Jan De Nul N.V. is part of the team that is building the critical underwater supports for wind turbines at Formosa 2. The Formosa 2 Offshore Wind Farm is located between 4 and 10 nautical miles off Miaoli County and, once finished, will have a total of 47 8MW turbines with a total generating capacity of 376MW. When hooked up to the grid (currently slated to happen in 2021), Formosa 2 will supply clean energy sufficient to meet the needs of 380,000 households, taking Taiwan a significant step forward to meeting the government’s overall goal of generating 5.7GW of green energy by 2025.

Port of Taichung President Sean Lu remarked that Jan De Nul will install jacket foundations at Formosa 2, which are more complicated, larger, and more difficult to install than the monopile foundations the company used at the demonstration wind farm Formosa 1. Thus, to support the significant expansion in their project responsibilities at Formosa 2, President Lu continued, Jan De Nul took the decision to lease a much larger area and dedicated wharf at the port. In executing its contract, Jan De Nul will be transferring critical European underwater and maritime engineering experience to local staff and suppliers, a process that will facilitate long-term maintenance efforts and the domestic development and export of related products and technologies.





Provided by：Port Business Department, Port of Taichung, TIPC
Contact Person：Che-wei Hsu
Telephone No.：04-2664-2224
E-mail Address：wei316@twport.com.tw