U.K.-based Corio Generation and French-based TotalEnergies, two of the world’s leading offshore wind and renewable energy developers, have signed a joint venture partnership to develop planned Formosa 3 offshore wind farms in Taiwan after Japan-based power producer Jera Co. recently put its stake in the project up for sale.
In a statement released Thursday, Corio CEO Jonathan Cole welcomed the deal and expressed hope that the Formosa 3 project would bring economic benefits to Taiwan and create job opportunities as the nation endeavors to transition from fossil-fuel to “green” energy sources.
Vincent Stoquart, senior vice president of TotalEnergies’ Renewables Division, touted the partnership as “a new step toward supporting Taiwan’s energy transition, bringing sustainable, low-cost energy.”
Under the agreement, Corio will remain the majority shareholder and lead developer with 50 percent plus 10 shares in the overall project.
“We are thrilled to welcome TotalEnergies as our partner in building offshore wind farms in Taiwan. Our two companies have a longstanding relationship and strong track record in developing projects across Europe and the Asia-Pacific and so we are absolutely delighted to be working together again in Taiwan,” Cole said.
The Formosa 3 project, consisting of Haiding 1, 2 and 3 wind farms, passed an environmental impact assessment in 2018 with an approved installed capacity of 2 gigawatts.
The Bureau of Energy announced in late December 2022 that the Haiding 2 wind farm had been awarded 600 megawatt (MW) grid capacity following the first phase of Taiwan’s Round 3 auctions.
“The wind farm development is expected to contribute to Taiwan’s ambitious plans for green energy transition and represents a multi-billion investment from the partners and project lenders up to the end of construction,” Corio said in the statement.
“Future investments will be made in proportion to the partners’ project shareholdings,” the company said.
The agreement requires the approval of relevant agencies in Taiwan, it added.
Nikkei Asia on Feb. 10 reported that Jera, which holds a 44 percent stake in Formosa, was pulling out of the project due to “worsening profitability” and amid “simmering geopolitical risks around the Taiwan Strait.”
An unnamed Ministry of Economic Affairs official, however, denied that Jera withdrew from the project due to geopolitical tensions, saying that the real reason was that the company did not believe Formosa 3 would live up to investment return assessments.
The official suggested that if Taiwan really was that dangerous, Jera would have pulled out from its other investments in offshore wind farm projects in Taiwan.
Jera currently holds respective 32.5 percent and 49 percent stakes in two other offshore wind projects in Taiwan: Formosa 1 (128 MWs), which went into full operation in 2019, and Formosa 2 (376 MWs), which is scheduled to go into operation this year.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel