Formosa 3 offshore wind project : TotalEnergies, Corio Generation to form JV

TotalEnergies and Corio Generation have entered into an agreement to jointly build the 2GW Formosa 3 offshore wind project in Taiwan.

In the joint venture (JV) to be formed, Corio Generation, which is a Green Investment Group (GIG) portfolio company, will continue as the major shareholder as well as the lead developer, with 50% plus 10 shares overall in the Taiwanese offshore wind project.

The JV announcement comes shortly following Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy’s confirmation in late December 2022 that the Formosa 3’s Haiding 2 windfarm had been awarded a grid capacity of 600MW in the first phase of the Round 3 auctions of Taiwan.

Jonathan Cole — Corio Generation CEO said: “We are thrilled to welcome TotalEnergies as our partner in building offshore windfarms in Taiwan. Our two companies have a longstanding relationship and strong track record in developing projects across Europe and Asia-Pacific and so we are absolutely delighted to be working together again in Taiwan.

“Corio has one of the largest offshore wind project portfolios worldwide with more than 20 GW in development. As a transformative source of clean and reliable energy, we believe offshore wind offers huge benefits to Taiwan’s communities and economy.”

TotalEnergies, Corio Generation to form JV for Formosa 3 offshore wind project in Taiwan. Photo courtesy of Norbert Pietsch from Pixabay.

The Formosa 3 offshore wind project will be made up of three wind farms — Haiding 1, 2, and 3, all located off the coast of Changhua county, on the western coast of central Taiwan. The project was awarded Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval in 2018 and an EIA-approved capacity of about 2GW.

The development of the Formosa 3 project is expected to help Taiwan’s ambitious plans for a green energy transition and will represent a multi-billion-dollar investment from the partners as well as project lenders through the time of completion. Future investment will be made in proportion to the project partners’ stakes.

Vincent Stoquart — TotalEnergies Senior Vice-President Renewables said: “We are very pleased to team up again with our strategic partner Corio, this time to develop offshore wind in Taiwan. This marks a new step toward supporting Taiwan’s energy transition, bringing sustainable, low-cost energy to the country.

“It also demonstrates our dedication to build up our global multi-energy business model through a series of investments to grow our worldwide renewable portfolio from 17 GW in 2022 to 35 GW in 2025, in line with our ambition to be one of the top 5 renewables developers by 2030.”

The JV agreement between TotalEnergies and Corio Generation for the Formosa 3 offshore wind project is contingent upon receiving of the appropriate regulatory approvals from the relevant authorities.