Final investment decision taken for Taiwan's 1-GW Hai Long project

September 25 (Renewables Now) - The final investment decision for the 1,044-MW Hai Long offshore wind project in Taiwanese waters has been taken and full completion will be targeted for the end of 2026, the scheme’s owners said on Friday.

The JPY-960-billion (USD 6.49bn/EUR 6.07bn) project is a partnership between Canada’s Northland Power Inc (TSE:NPI) with a 60% stake and Japanese trader Mitsui & Co Ltd (TYO:8031). They said that the investment is subject to a range of conditions precedent and project finance contracts, which are expected to come into effect within the current year.

Northland Power, which is in the process of selling a 29.4% portion of its stake, last week announced the signing of a TWD-118-billion (USD 3.68bn/EUR 3.45bn) deal providing the project with non-recourse debt funding. An additional CAD 1 billion (USD 743.7m/EUR 696.3m) of pre-completion revenues plus CAD 3 billion in equity will also go to support the financing arrangement.

Mitsui estimates that its investment, loan and guarantee participation in the project will stand at roughly JPY 260 billion.

To be built 45km-70km off the Changhua coast in the Taiwan Strait, Hai Long is scheduled to go online in 2026/2027. The 73-turbine complex made of the 294-MW Hai Long 2A, 224-MW Hai Long 2B and 504-MW Hai Long 3 parks will produce enough power to supply over one million homes in Taiwan. The capacity will be switched on sequentially from the end of 2025 and will reach full power by the end of 2026.

(JPY 100 = USD 0.676/EUR 0.633)

(TWD 10 = USD 0.312/EUR 0.292)

(CAD 1.0 = USD 0.744/EUR 0.696)