Taipei, April 25 (CNA) Taiwan is aiming to increase its offshore wind energy generation capacity by 5 gigawatts over a five year period, starting in 2026, the Bureau of Energy (BOE) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Thursday.
Speaking at a trade conference in Taipei, deputy head of the BOE Lee Chun-li said the plans for the third phase of the government's offshore wind energy development project will be released in full later this year.
During that third phase, one of the goals will be to produce an additional 5GW of offshore wind power for commercial use between 2026 and 2030, he said.
Before releasing the plans, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will invite wind energy developers from home and abroad, who are involved in the project, to coordinate on aspects such as maintenance, installation, and underwater foundations, Lee said.
Under Phase 1 of the project, an offshore wind demonstration farm with a generation capacity of 8 megawatts was set up off Miaoli County in 2016 and became fully operational the following year.
Bidding for the second phase of the project was completed last year, with the goal of achieving 5.5 GW of installed capacity by 2025, Lee said.
The output value of offshore wind power in Taiwan is expected to reach NT$77.3 billion (US$2.5 billion) by 2025, with total investment in the industry exceeding NT$1 trillion, according to BOE data.
The offshore wind development sector is also forecast to create some 20,000 jobs in the country by 2025, the data shows.
At Thursday's Global Offshore Wind Summit - Taiwan , local and global investment groups, energy companies, project developers and regulators gathered to discuss the future of Taiwan's offshore wind market.
The Taipei conference was hosted jointly by the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
