The Ørsted Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farm - Ørsted bets on large-scale Taiwan wind power

The Ørsted Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farm starts where the green-gray waves off Fangyuan Township turn darker and the wind cuts audibly against steel towers on the horizon. Technicians in orange jackets listen for the low hum in each nacelle before signing off another inspection run.

What Changhua 1 & 2a actually is

Changhua 1 & 2a is Ørsted's first large-scale commercial offshore wind project in Taiwan, with a combined installed capacity of roughly 900 MW from 111 Siemens Gamesa turbines of 8 MW class. It lies 35 to 60 kilometers off the coast of Changhua County in the Taiwan Strait.

According to Ørsted's project documentation, Changhua 1 & 2a can generate enough electricity to power about 1 million Taiwanese households once fully operational, based on local consumption assumptions. The project reached full commercial operation in 2023, after phased grid connection throughout 2022 and early 2023.

Turbines, foundations and grid link

The project uses Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines on jacket foundations, a technology choice that reflects the relatively deep waters and seabed conditions in the Taiwan Strait. Each rotor spans 167 meters, so the blades sweep an area larger than many city blocks.

Two offshore substations collect the power and step up the voltage before export through high-voltage submarine cables to the onshore grid connection point in Changhua County. Local contractor CPC and a consortium around Jan De Nul and Hitachi handled parts of the offshore construction work.

Local supply chain and jobs

For Taiwan, Changhua 1 & 2a is more than an engineering project. According to Ørsted, about 60 percent of the project's lifetime spending is intended to involve Taiwanese companies, under the government's localization policy. This includes towers, transition pieces and onshore infrastructure.

When the first turbine components arrived in Taichung Port, Ørsted's Asia-Pacific president Per Mejnert Kristensen described the moment as "the sound of a new industry taking root in Taiwan". Workers in Taichung's pre-assembly yard now report the constant metallic clang of sections being lifted, bolted and checked.

Revenue profile and contract structure

Changhua 1 & 2a sells electricity under a 20-year feed-in-tariff style power purchase arrangement with Taipower, Taiwan's state-owned utility, based on a government-approved tariff. That structure provides relatively visible long-term cash flows in local currency for Ørsted.

The blended tariff for the project was determined under Taiwan's first offshore wind auction and is lower than early demonstration-project rates but higher than recent European auction levels. Currency translation and hedging costs still matter for investors who think in Danish kroner or euros.

Capex, partners and financing

Ørsted holds 50 percent of Changhua 1 & 2a, with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Cathay PE taking the remaining 50 percent stake through an investment agreement signed in 2020. The total project cost has been reported in the range of several billion US dollars, although Ørsted does not give a single headline capex number for this cluster.

Financing combines equity from the partners with project-level debt from a syndicate of international and Taiwanese banks. For local lenders, Changhua 1 & 2a has become a template case for assessing offshore wind credit risk in the region.

Operational challenges in the Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait offers steady winds but harsh conditions. Typhoons, strong currents and dense fishing activity put pressure on turbine availability and maintenance planning. Ørsted's operations teams must pick weather windows carefully for crew transfer and heavy-lift interventions.

Service technicians based in Taichung describe the sensation of the transfer vessel slamming against short, steep waves before the fenders lock gently onto the boat landing of the tower. Motion-compensated gangways and strict safety routines are central to keeping downtime low.

How Changhua 1 & 2a sits in Ørsted's portfolio

Changhua 1 & 2a is part of Ørsted's Greater Changhua cluster, which also includes Changhua 2b & 4, and complements the company's large offshore wind fleets in the North Sea and the US. Asia-Pacific is a growth leg next to Europe and North America for Ørsted's offshore division.

For CEO Mads Nipper, projects like Changhua 1 & 2a illustrate Ørsted's strategy to deploy proven turbine technology at industrial scale in markets with supportive policy frameworks and strong power demand growth. Taiwan's target of 5.7 GW offshore wind by 2025 made the country an early Asian anchor for the company.

Climate impact and policy setting

From a climate perspective, Changhua 1 & 2a helps Taiwan cut coal and gas imports, reducing both CO? emissions and exposure to fossil fuel price swings. Each megawatt-hour from the wind farm avoids emissions that would otherwise come from carbon-intensive thermal plants.

The project also sits in a tense geopolitical environment. Taiwan's energy security is a political priority, and offshore wind is one of the few domestic resources that can be scaled quickly within environmental constraints. Ørsted's presence makes European capital part of that transition story.

What it means for Ørsted stock

For retail investors in Europe, Changhua 1 & 2a is a concrete example of Ørsted turning its offshore engineering capabilities into long-term contracted cash flows in a non-European market. The project diversifies revenue geographically while relying on familiar technology and risk structures.

On Nasdaq Copenhagen, Ørsted stock trades in Danish kroner under the ISIN DK0061539921, so currency moves and Taiwan project execution both filter into how investors judge the company's offshore portfolio over the coming years.