Taiwan's economics ministry is moving to cancel the 700MW Youde offshore wind project after the developer failed to pay its required deposit, a setback for the country's wind power buildout.

• The Youde wind farm still has not paid the rest of its performance bond, and the energy agency is now processing the cancellation.
• The project is run by Fuwei Energy, whose parent company Sino-Wei Energy recently ran into money trouble.
• Youde won the block development round with the top-ranked bid, then repeatedly asked to push back the signing deadline.
• Regulators asked twice this spring for the missing payment, but the paperwork submitted did not meet the rules.
• Officials pushed back on talk of favoritism, saying a separate wind farm cancellation was over local supply chain rules, not unpaid deposits.

Outlook: The cancellation looks set to go through, leaving a large chunk of Taiwan's planned offshore wind capacity in limbo.