Japan's Mitsui, Canada's Northland to build 1 GW offshore wind farm in Taiwan

Northland Power (Ontario)

22/09/2023 08:53

TOKYO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsui & Co  8031.T 
said on Friday it had finalised a plan with Canada's Northland
Power Inc  NPI.TO  to build a 1 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind farm
in Taiwan at an estimated cost of 960 billion yen ($6.5
billion).
    The deal comes as countries around the globe are seeking to
attract investment in offshore wind power projects to help
combat global warming by reducing their use of fossil fuels.
    Mitsui and Northland, which won the stake in the Hai Long
bottom-fixed offshore wind project in 2018, aims to complete
construction by the end of 2026 to generate a total of 1.022 GW,
equal to the annual power consumption of 1 million households.
    The project, 60% owned by Northland and 40% by Mitsui,
involves constructing 73 large wind turbines in the offshore
area 45-70 kilometres (30-45 miles) off Changhua county and
consists of three sections, HL2A, HL2B and HL3.
    The HL2A will sell electricity to Taiwan Power Company under
a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) while HL2B and HL3 will
sell electricity to a private power user in Taiwan under a
30-year PPA, Mitsui said in a statement.
    Of the total project cost, Mitsui will provide 260 billion
yen, including 170 billion yen in equity and loans and 90
billion yen in guarantees, while about 540 billion yen will be
funded through project finance.
    The deal is subject to project finance contracts coming into
effect, which is expected this year, Mitsui said.
($1 = 148.3000 yen)

 (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
 ((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))