Taiwan's third offshore wind auction draws few bidders as Ørsted and CIP target the same site
Taiwan's latest offshore wind tender is drawing a thin field of bidders, a warning sign for the country's clean energy build-out, though the two European giants that do show up look set for a head-to-head fight.
- Bids for Taiwan's 3.6 GW offshore wind round close at the end of September, with wind farms due to connect to the grid around 2030 and 2031.
- The crowded scramble of past rounds has not materialized, leaving a much smaller pool of developers.
- Denmark's Ørsted and CIP are both expected to bid with projects that sit on overlapping patches of sea, setting up a direct clash.
- To stop developers bidding at zero and then struggling to fund projects, Taiwan added a guaranteed minimum price per unit of power, giving banks a floor for lending.
- Several abandoned wind farm sites are being folded back in as bonus capacity, but only for developers who first win a normal slot.
Outlook: With bidding closing in September, the main question is whether Ørsted and CIP both file and how Taiwan settles the overlap between their sites.