Subsea 7’s offshore wind contractor Seaway 7 and Taiwan-based offshore wind service player Dong Fang Offshore, a subsidiary of Hung Hua Construction, have joined forces in the expanding Taiwanese renewables sector.
Under a memorandum of understanding, the duo will focus on developing a localised cable installation offering.
Seaway 7 has been operating in Taiwan since 2017, and the company is currently involved in four cable installation campaigns linking more than 2.5GW to Taiwan’s electricity grid.
The partnership will see Seaway 7 provide project management, engineering and installation expertise, while Dong Fang Offshore will contribute their local market knowledge along with vessels and marine operations expertise.
“The intended partnership with Dong Fang Offshore builds on our existing successful business relationship and aligns with our strategy to be a long-term presence in Taiwan,” said Stuart Fitzgerald, chief executive of Seaway 7.
Hung Hua Construction’s unit, which was set up in 2019, operates crew transfer and anchour handling vessel in addition to its two construction support units.
Polin Chen, CEO of Dong Fang Offshore, added: “The partnership between DFO and Seaway 7 represents a concrete step towards ensuring Taiwan and the APAC region has a viable, high quality, local cable installation and repair solution, employing our combined fleets with the experience and knowledge of Seaway 7.”
Taiwan has emerged as one of the leaders in Asian offshore wind development, with an ambitious target of 5.7 GW of offshore wind generation capacity by 2025 and some 15 GW to be constructed between 2026 and 2035. The island country is anticipated to continue making efforts to achieve the 2025 target, while several analysts have warned of great pressure under the current engineering schedule due to some project cancellations and delays, as well as the price gap between offtakers and developers.
