Committed to support and advance national energy transition policies, Taiwan Interna-tional Ports Corporation (TIPC) recently rezoned zone A6, an area encompassing more than 30 ha within the newly reclaimed and consolidated Port of Kaohsiung Intercontinen-tal Terminal (KIT, Phase 1), from “warehousing and logistics” to “offshore wind industry-related industries” use. Two companies, Walsin Lihwa Corp. and Intercontinental Wind Energy Co., Ltd. (IWE), subsequently won the respective public bids to lease and invest in A6-A and A6-B. To ensure the ability of these firms to receive and handle the large com-ponents and materials involved, Port of Kaohsiung committed to doing necessary em-bankment reinforcement and land reclamation work, including investing an additional NT$2 billion to construct two new heavy duty cargo (30mt/m2) wharves. After completion this year, KIT A6 will take its place as an important base of support for wind farms in the south section of the Taiwan Strait. Furthermore, the influx of new related investment, ad-vanced international technologies, and education and training resources is set to make the port an important engine of future growth in the domestic green energy sector.
A statement by Port of Kaohsiung notes that offshore wind farm development is a key pil-lar in national green energy policy and that TIPC has already actively partnered with the private sector in this realm at Taipei Port and Port of Taichung. Such partnerships have rapidly evolved from smaller-scale demonstration wind turbine assembly and transfer plat-forms into focused efforts to build dedicated industry parks able to localize key industry technologies and components production. KIT A6 is further advantaged by its convenient geographic location, co-location with Port of Kaohsiung’s 6th and 7th Container Terminals, and ready access to air, land, and sea transportation. On the heels of Walsin Lihwa and IWE’s investments in 2022, Port of Kaohsiung again penned long-term leases with these two companies this year (2024) on the two newly constructed heavy duty cargo wharves, ensuring for the port a central role in the manufacturing, assembly, shipping and installa-tion of the underwater foundation superstructures and cable systems critical to wind farm development and support.
Walsin Lihwa has announced it will use A6-A and the adjacent wharf (22.3ha in total) as a base for cooperation with Denmark-based NKT A/S, the world’s third-largest provider of power cable solutions. The partnership is expected to invest over NT$10 billion to con-struct a first submarine cable manufacturing plant that, when fully operational, will add over 500 new jobs to the local economy. The plant is expected to commence commercial operations before mid-2027 after completing international certification procedures. For its part, IWE has announced it will use A6-B and the adjacent wharf (19.3ha in total) initially to assemble jacket foundations for offshore wind turbines and, later on, underwater foun-dations for floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT). Installation of a 1,500mt rail-mounted gantry crane and other facilities is expected bring IWE’s investment in the project to NT$5 billion, with at least 150 new full-time jobs created. IWE’s facility, expected to start com-mercial production during 3Q 2025, will become a significant center for the assembly and delivery of underwater jacket foundations.
Benefitting from the recent surge in wind farm industry growth, Zone A6 in Port of Kaohsiung’s KIT is well positioned to become a key base of support for wind farms not only in Taiwan but across the Asia Pacific region as well. Furthermore, Port of Kaohsiung looks forward to leveraging its partnerships with Walsin Lihwa and IWE to further localize wind-farm-related technologies and components manufacturing activities in Taiwan. In support of national energy transition goals and advancing the overall cause of green sus-tainability, Port of Kaohsiung will continue to enhance its operating environment, promote port-city prosperity, carve out a solid and sustainable competitive position in the Asia-Pacific wind energy market, and become a long-term, world-class base for the offshore wind farm industry.
Provided by：Port Business Division, Port of Kaohsiung, TIPC
Contact Person：Yu-shao Yeh, Manager
Telephone No.：07-5622207
E-mail Address：ysyeh@twport.com.tw
