Total buys into Taiwanese offshore wind sector

French oil and gas major Total has agreed to acquire a 23% stake in Wpd-owned Yunlin Holding, the project company of the 640MW Yunlin Yunlin (640MW) Offshoreoff Yunlin, Taiwan, Asia-Pacific Click to see full details offshore wind farm under construction in Taiwanese waters.

Total will pay Wpd a consideration based on the equivalent share of past costs.

Located 200km southwest of Taipei, in waters 7-35m deep and 10km off the coastline, the project benefits from a 20-year power purchase agreement with state-owned utility Taipower at the guaranteed prices of $250/MWh for the first ten years and $125/MWh for the following ten years.

Yunlin will use 80 of Siemens Gamesa’s SG 8.0-167DD wind turbines. The first turbine was installed last week and construction is expected to be completed in 2022. 

Subject to government approval and completion of the acquisition, a consortium of Japanese investors led by Sojitz Corporation will own the largest stake in the project (27%), EGCO and Wpd will each own 25%, with Total the smallest stakeholder at 23%.  

Taiwan targets a 20% share for renewables in its electricity mix by 2025, with offshore wind set to play a major role in achieving that goal. It is one of the priority countries Total is targeting in the region. 

Total claims to have 5.5GW of offshore wind projects under development worldwide. Its power generation capacity is 12GW, including 7GW of renewable energy. It aims to reach 100GW of production capacity from renewable sources by 2030.