Taiwan: the next offshore wind gold rush

Green Giraffe’s Sophie Cherrier talked to inspiratia about the opportunities and challenges facing the Taiwanese offshore wind market.

Appeal of Taiwan:

“With the new dynamics of the European renewable markets – increasing liquidity, competition and the drop in tariffs – a number of developers have started to look at what else might be available.”

On pricing:

Cherrier explains that “a number of regulatory constraints” apply around the amount that local banks and international banks with local branches can provide.

“This puts pressure on the overall amount each project can raise as there is a lot of competition and a lot of local currency funding needed over a similar timeline, and is also why you need experienced sponsors and advisors who know how to raise these types of complex financings.”

“As the risks are better understood and the market gets more liquid, I think pricing should follow the same trend as the European markets.”

On participation of ECAs:

“It makes sense for ECAs to look at new markets, especially those open to imports from European countries like Taiwan, where they can take risks commercial banks can’t, at the early stage and bring additional (risk) liquidity for projects. Generally, their participation also gives more comfort to commercial lenders and helps to increase lenders’ appetite.”

Insurance companies:

“In Taiwan, insurance companies can’t take construction risk due to regulatory constraints. They’re interested, but their actual appetite is still to be tested.”

PPA:

“The PPA template is used for all projects in Taiwan and in its current short form. It lacks a number of clauses that sponsors and international lenders would typically want to see in the contract.”

New Asian offshore markets

“South Korea and Japan in the medium-term are the obvious candidates and they add a future and relevant pipeline for contractors, which makes it even more worthwhile for them to pay the price of the learning curve.”

The full article is available here