Powering Taiwan's Silicon Shield

Abstract

The wind blowing in from the Taiwan Strait regularly blasts across Changhua Coastal Industrial Park. On this expanse of reclaimed land outside Taichung, Taiwan's second largest city, 80 wind turbines, a pair of gas-fired power plants, and 4.3 square kilometers of solar farms generate electricity for Taiwan's grid. More than 170 wind turbines installed offshore in the strait send more than a gigawatt of power to a hulking, typhoon-ready substation, its circuits primed for more power coming within months. Shiny new transmission towers strung with steel cables lead to a second massive substation, still under construction, which will absorb 2 gigawatts of additional offshore wind power.