Written by Elizabeth Frost.
Image credit: 海能離岸風力發電場2 by Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan/ Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Taiwan Government Website Open Information Announcement.
Offshore wind energy plays a central role in Taiwan’s energy transition ambitions, but the technology is more than just a source of renewable energy to power Taiwan’s households and semiconductor fabs. Offshore wind has strengthened Taiwan-Europe collaboration, with Taiwan drawing extensively on European expertise to establish itself as a regional leader in this field. Taiwan’s strategic collaboration with the EU in developing offshore wind is explored in detail in the first section of this article, which highlights the investments, partnerships, and challenges underpinning Taiwan’s progress in the sector.
Beyond these material collaborations, this article argues that offshore wind also plays a significant role in the discursive realm, shaping Taiwan’s global image and identity as a responsible actor in addressing climate change. A review of Taiwan’s official climate diplomacy narratives reveals how images of offshore wind are often used as a visual shorthand to demonstrate Taiwan’s green credentials. Offshore wind is also frequently a topic of international media coverage of Taiwan; analysis of news coverage between 2015 and 2024 reveals how coverage of offshore wind has evolved from presenting Taiwan as an ambitious climate leader to falling behind on its ambitions due to policy missteps.
Taiwan-EU offshore wind collaboration
Wind power is one of Taiwan’s key strategies for achieving net zero by 2050, with installed capacity of offshore wind power expected to reach 13.1 GW by 2030 and 40-55 GW by 2050. While current capacity is still behind the government’s goal of 5.7 GW by 2025, Taiwan is now the seventh-largest producer of offshore wind energy globally. In January 2025, almost 46% of Taiwan’s renewable energy generation came from offshore wind.
The sector has also become a focal point for collaboration with European companies. In 2023, the EU retained its position as Taiwan’s largest foreign investor, with investments of €2.9 billion, primarily concentrated in the offshore wind sector, which has brought rapid progress to the industry in Taiwan. For example, Danish multinationals Ørsted and Vestas have respectively developed Taiwan’s largest wind farm and partnered with local manufacturers to produce wind turbine blades in Taichung.
However, the Taiwan-EU relationship has not all been smooth sailing. In 2021, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) introduced a localisation policy for its Round 3 offshore wind tenders, mandating that at least 60% of offshore wind farm components be sourced locally, except when the domestic supply chain could not meet project needs. Many international developers found this requirement would dramatically increase construction costs, undermining project profitability. This, combined with other factors, such as expanded renewable energy construction in Europe as a result of the Russian war on Ukraine, led to some European developers (including Germany’s EnBW and RWE) reducing their business scale in Taiwan in 2023.
In July 2024, the EU filed a WTO dispute against Taiwan, claiming its local content requirement and award criteria for offshore wind projects violated WTO rules by discriminating against imported goods and services. In November, the two parties resolved the dispute, with Taiwan committing to greater flexibility for implementing offshore wind projects and agreeing to no longer include localisation requirements as eligibility conditions or award criteria.
While this development has been welcomed, other regulatory uncertainties continue to concern international investors. Taiwan’s transition from offering some of the world’s most generous feed-in tariffs (FITs—a subsidy that incentivises renewable energy investment by guaranteeing producers a fixed energy price) to a market-driven model requiring developers to secure financing through corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) is another challenge facing developers.
Partnerships with local stakeholders offer EU developers one means of navigating Taiwan’s complex regulatory and policy environment. Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) is a case in point, previously working with Taiwan’s China Steel to develop the Zhong Neng wind farm, which came into operation in 2024. In March 2025, CIP secured a power purchase agreement for Google’s first offshore wind power purchase in the Asia Pacific.
Looking ahead, Taiwan–EU offshore wind collaboration may encounter new opportunities and risks. The U.S. pivot away from offshore wind, exemplified by the Trump administration’s surprise decision to halt construction of Equinor’s New York wind farm, will have significant consequences for European companies. Greater investment in Taiwan, which can also serve as a stepping stone to other markets in the region, maybe one means of weathering the crisis. Future Taiwan-EU collaboration could emerge in cutting-edge technologies such as floating offshore wind, with European countries, including France, already leading the way. Floating wind will likely be key for Taiwan’s future offshore development, as sites suitable for fixed-bottom turbines are running out, but development has been delayed due to policy bottlenecks.
Thanks in no small part to the involvement of European partners, Taiwan has emerged as a regional leader in offshore wind energy, attracting considerable media coverage. The media’s evolving portrayal of Taiwan’s offshore wind development – from ambitious to struggling – reveals how government policy has shaped Taiwan’s global identity. Given the importance of public opinion to Taiwan’s sovereignty and its long-held desire for inclusion in the UNFCCC, Taiwan’s international climate reputation is a matter of significant concern. The following sections explore how the international media has reported on Taiwan’s offshore wind development and how the Taiwanese government has used the technology as part of its climate diplomacy narratives.
Taiwan’s climate identity: from offshore wind pioneer to a policy “crisis”
Offshore wind development, including investments from EU companies, has contributed to shaping Taiwan’s international climate identity. My analysis of 138 climate-related articles published between 2015 and 2024 in English-language media from the U.S., the UK, the EU, Japan, and Australia revealed that offshore wind was the most frequently covered form of energy, even surpassing the controversial topic of nuclear energy. This prominence can be attributed to Taiwan’s pioneering commitment to offshore wind development, as well as the involvement of numerous international companies in the industry.
The majority of articles focused on offshore wind, positioning Taiwan as a contributor to global climate action, with ambitious offshore wind development goals positioning Taiwan as a regional leader. Taiwan’s experiences in offshore wind are frequently presented as an example that other countries, such as Australia, can learn from. Taiwan’s offshore wind sector is also seen as a “stepping stone into Asia-Pacific,” where foreign firms can gain experience before expanding into other markets.
Taiwanese companies have been portrayed as trailblazers in offshore wind development. For example, TSMC made headlines in 2020 for signing the world’s largest renewables corporate power purchase agreement with Orsted. Similarly, Swancor’s development of a cutting-edge material that enables wind turbine blades to be recycled was hailed as contributing to solving one of the industry’s biggest problems.
However, 2021 marked a shift in the discourse, with media coverage becoming more critical as Taiwan’s progress lagged behind expectations. Some reports described the industry as being in “a downward spiral” or facing a “crisis” based on the experiences of international developers such as CIP. While the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are cited as contributing to delays, the greatest attribution is assigned to “policy missteps,” especially the “byzantine and inflexible” local content requirements. It remains to be seen whether Taiwan’s decision to eliminate these requirements will help restore the earlier media optimism surrounding its offshore wind sector.
Such negative coverage of Taiwan’s energy transition threatens to undermine its international climate credibility, painstakingly developed through climate diplomacy narratives.
Offshore wind in climate diplomacy
Official climate diplomacy narratives have attempted to leverage offshore wind to present Taiwan as a contributor to global climate action. Excluded from UNFCCC membership, climate change has formed a key part of Taiwan’s public diplomacy efforts to gain increased international recognition as a responsible stakeholder and constructive partner.
In videos published on the 潮台灣 Trending Taiwan YouTube channel, managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the b-roll of offshore wind turbines is regularly used to illustrate Taiwan’s green energy transition. Riding the Wind, published in 2019, presents Taiwan as an active participant in global climate action through the development of its first offshore wind farm. The video conveys that various elements of Taiwanese society are all committed to a green transition, as seen through a fisherman expressing his hope that more wind farms will be built along Taiwan’s coasts in the future. This portrayal is somewhat ironic, as ongoing conflicts with fishers are one of the key challenges facing offshore wind development in Taiwan.
The 2022 video A Green Promised Land features an Indigenous grandmother sharing the legend of the great flood with her granddaughter, symbolising modern-day climate change. In this narrative, renewable energy, including wind energy, is presented as a gift from Mother Earth, offering humanity the means to sustain itself. This provides yet another example of how Indigenous Peoples act as non-state diplomatic actors in Taiwan’s public diplomacy efforts.
These videos offer a window into Taiwan’s approach to public climate diplomacy, with the evocative image of white turbines soaring over the Formosan coastlines used as a visual representation of Taiwan’s commitment and contribution to the global decarbonisation effort.
Looking forward
Offshore wind energy is more than just a cornerstone of Taiwan’s green transition – it has also strengthened ties with Europe, an important climate leader, despite hurdles along the way. Beyond direct collaboration, offshore wind also showcases how cleantech is shaping Taiwan’s international climate identity by driving media attention and bolstering Taiwan’s climate diplomacy narratives. Taiwan’s climate identity – whether it is seen as a leader or a laggard on climate action – will increasingly impact its soft power and relationships, not only with the EU but also with other key partners, including Southeast Asia, where climate change has recently ranked as the top public concern. If Taiwan can regain momentum in offshore wind energy development through continued close collaboration with the EU, its international reputation and influence will benefit—and so will the planet.
Elizabeth Frost is a British Master’s candidate in Climate Change and Sustainable Development at National Taiwan University, where her thesis explores constructions of Taiwan’s climate identity. Her research interests include climate diplomacy and the geopolitics of the energy transition. Please feel free to connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn.
The article is published as part of a joint issue “Green Synergies: Sustainability, Security and Taiwan-Europe Collaboration” between CHOICE and Taiwan Insight.