In order to expand deployment in overseas offshore wind power markets and obtain wind-field management experience, JERA of Japan announced recently that it has gained 32.5% stake in Formosa I Wind Power Co., Ltd. in Taiwan and 24.95% in Gungleet Sands wind field of the UK.
Of the stake in Formosa I, 7.5% will be sold by Swancor at around NT$635 million, a transaction likely to be settled in the first half of 2019, on top of that from Macquarie, which will transfer half of its stake to JERA. JERA will, therefore, become the second largest shareholder of Formosa I, after Ørsted.
As the offshore wind field with the fastest progress in development so far, Formosa I, with installation capacity of 128 MW, already inaugurated first-phase facility, including two 8 MW pilot wind turbines, in April 2017. The second phase contains 20 6 MW turbines, which is scheduled to start construction in 2019 before grid connection by the end of the year.
With 24.95% stake, JERA will take part, alongside Ørsted and the Development Bank of Japan, in the operation of Gunfleet Sands offshore wind field, which, with 172.8 MW in installation capacity, already launched commercial run nine years ago.
JERA notes that from the two investments, it can obtain the knowledge and experience for the construction and management of offshore wind power, facilitating its further inroads into the offshore wind market, both in Japan and abroad, adding that it will set up business offices in Taiwan and the UK, paving the way for expanding its presence in the two markets.
A joint venture of Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power inaugurated in 2015, JERA engages in the supply of thermal power fuels, purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and investment in overseas power generation. It aims to expand deployment of wind power in Japan and pocket profits from overseas wind-power investment, even exceeding that from domestic thermal power generation.
Given emergence of renewable energy and environmental-protection awareness worldwide, JERA has been stepping up effort in building experience and technology in green energy and energy storage. In addition to the investments in Taiwan and UK, it acquired 10% stake in ReNew Power Ventures, the largest renewable energy firm in India, in 2017 and announced in May 2018 investment of 10 billion yen in building a cutting-edge PV power/energy storage system in Australia.
(Collaborative media: TechNews, first photo courtesy of Pixabay)