US investors plan 4.4GW Taiwanese project

Swancor Renewable Energy (SRE) is developing a 4.4GW offshore wind complex off north-west Taiwan.

It had been carrying out preliminary work on its planned Formosa 4 complex, and filed for permits from Taiwan’s Environment Protection Agency this week, the developer confirmed.

The 4.4GW complex would be built 18-20km off Miaoli county and would consist of three separate sites.

SRE is considering both fixed-bottom and floating foundation for the portfolio, and will make its choice subject to site conditions.

Subject to the completion of the environmental impact assessment process and securing the requisite government approvals, project contracts and financing, SRE expects to commission Formosa 4 after 2025.

Swancor Renewable Energy – 95% owned by US investment firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, and 5% by Taiwanese resin and composites company Swancor – has previously led on offshore wind development in Taiwan.

It helped develop the two-phase, 128MW Formosa 1 and 376MW Formosa 2 projects, which are now in operations and construction respectively

It is not yet known when Taiwan’s next procurement round will be, and when SRE could potentially secure a contract for Formosa 4. The developer is also advancing the Formosa 3 project alongside Australian investors Macquarie, and intend to enter the 2GW wind farm in the country’s next auction round.

Taiwan’s economic affairs ministry has already awarded contracts for 5.5GW of offshore wind capacity across two rounds, to add to the 128MW of operational capacity across two demonstration projects.

It plans to award a further 10GW of capacity to be commissioned between 2026 and 2035, but is yet to decide on development zones to support this build-out.