TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms began operations on Thursday (April 25), marking a new milestone for increasing offshore wind capacity.

The wind farms were built by Danish energy company Orsted and have a 900-megawatt total capacity, making them the largest of their kind in Asia, according to an Orsted press release.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony at the Port of Taichung, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said: "It took us eight years to turn the term 'energy transition' in our policy papers into reality. Now, Taiwan boasts the largest wind farms in Asia and has its own offshore wind supply chain." 

Tsai envisioned telling future generations that the country's offshore wind turbines are assets for sustainable development. Taiwan will continue on the path toward a cleaner, more sustainable future, she said. "We will keep striving forward."

Orsted CEO Mads Nipper said the completion of the project was “a landmark achievement for Orsted and for Taiwan.” The wind farms are the company’s “first gigawatt-scale offshore wind farms outside of Europe” and Taiwan’s “first utility-scale far-shore wind farms.”

Nipper said the company’s next project in Taiwan would be the 920-megawatt Greater Changhua 2b, 3, and 4 wind farms. “We’re committed to creating a world that runs entirely on green energy and enabling long-term benefits to the economies and societies where we operate,” he said.

The Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms are capable of producing enough renewable energy to power one million Taiwanese households per year, the company said. 

Wind power is part of Taiwan’s efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In 2022, the government published a policy paper laying out an action plan. 

The country recently set a new record by reaching an output of 10.5 million kWh through wind and solar power, according to Taipower.

Taipower added during the daytime peak power consumption period, the green energy penetration rate can be maintained between 35% and 40%, which allows coal thermal power plants to reduce their load.