Offshore wind coming for Taiwan

TAIWAN - British renewable energy company SeaEnergy said it will build offshore windfarm projects in Taiwan with the Taiwan Generations Corporation (TGC), an energy project development company.

Taiwan's government has set a target to have 15 percent, or 8,450 megawatts (MW), of its electricity generated from renewable resources by 2025. And in August the government said it would invest $45 billion (US$1.4 billion) in the sector.

SeaEnergy and TGC did not place a value on the project.

Shares in SeaEnergy were 6.7 percent up at 51.5 pence in early trade.

The two companies will work together on a variety of projects beginning with the Changhua Offshore Windfarm, on the West coast of Taiwan, to help meet that goal. Changhua will have a capacity of up to 600 MW and will be jointly owned.

"Taiwan represents an opportunity for SeaEnergy to internationalize quickly in an environment where a project can be consented at a reasonably early date and at reasonable cost," Joel Staadecker, CEO of SeaEnergy said.

Separately, Danish wind turbine builder Vestas reported a larger-than-expected rise in third quarter operating profit and stuck to its 2009 guidance.