TECO Joins Hands With China Steel Group in Tapping Offshore Wind

TECO Group's board of directors approved today setup of joint venture ''Offshore Turbine Manufacturing Corp.''(tentative name) with China Steel Machinery Corp. (CSMC), under the China Steel Group, for the development and manufacturing of offshore turbine system, which will take advantage of TECO's technology for wind turbine and electric machinery and CSMC's technology for steel structure, plus cutting-edge wind-turbine technology introduced from Europe. The joint venture aims to turn out branded offshore wind turbines for shipment to East Asia and North America.

The move represents another stride of TECO's green business, after gleaning solid technology and substantial experience for the development, installation, and operation of wind turbines over the past years, as embodied by its plan to install a trial model of 5MW wind turbine, the largest model ever and the only one capable of withstanding the impact of typhoon on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, by the end of this year. The model will be entitled to government incentives, according to “measures of incentives for offshore wind turbines'' promulgated in 2012, as part of the government's effort in achieving the targeted capacity of 3,000 MW for offshore wind farms in total.

TECO's 5MW wind turbine, which is a direct-drive model using materials supplied by China Steel, will be installed after being certified. It will be the most cost-effective model on the market.

The aforementioned joint venture will make valuable contribution to the development of renewable energy in Taiwan, considerably boosting the share of green energy and Taiwan's energy independence.