Above the sea, just off the coast of western Taiwan, long white steel blades churn slowly through thick morning smog: the country’s first two offshore wind turbines are a symbol of the government’s plans to spend billions of dollars to develop massive offshore wind farms so it can slash the amount of coal burnt to power the island’s factories.
However, Taiwan’s fledgling offshore wind market is in a state of flux with international investors spooked after the government cut by nearly 6 per cent the price it would pay for the power source.
The change, announced in November and only partially unwound on January 30, was a blow to international developers, engineers and banks that had flocked to Taiwan over the past two years to take part in what promised to be one of the world’s fastest growing offshore wind markets, projected to bring in $30bn of investment to the country by 2025.