{"id":91117,"date":"2026-05-24T13:56:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T13:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/91117\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T13:56:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T13:56:18","slug":"winds-of-change-can-taiwans-offshore-wind-deliver-fair-work-too-the-diplomat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/91117\/","title":{"rendered":"Winds of Change: Can Taiwan\u2019s Offshore Wind Deliver Fair Work Too? \u2013 The Diplomat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taiwan is rapidly expanding its offshore wind sector as part of a broader push for clean energy. While offshore wind barely existed a decade ago, today Taiwan is the largest offshore wind market in Asia outside China.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of offshore wind mills now line Taiwan\u2019s west coast, with local factories behind many of the the steel giants \u2013 each weighing around 1,000 tonnes, rising more than 100 meters above the sea, and anchored nearly as deep below the waves. Migrant workers at some of these manufacturers say they incurred heavy debts to pay recruiters for their jobs, raising the risk of debt bondage as they worked to pay them off. Some interviewees also described additional indicators of forced labor, including withheld wages, deceptive recruitment, and intimidation and threats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Workers should not have paid recruitment fees at all. Across every offshore wind project examined in this investigation, suppliers were required (by some of the involved entities) to ensure that migrant workers did not pay recruitment fees. However, years of audits and compliance programs apparently failed to notice the ongoing practice.<\/p>\n

Denmark has been a central partner from the start. Widely regarded as a global wind leader, it is home to two of the world\u2019s major renewable energy developers \u2013 \u00d8rsted and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) \u2013 which stand behind several of Taiwan\u2019s largest offshore wind farms. Together, those projects account for most of the island\u2019s 4 gigawatt installed capacity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Almost all of Taiwan\u2019s offshore wind turbines are supplied by Denmark\u2019s Vestas \u2013 the world\u2019s largest turbine manufacturer \u2013 and Germany\u2019s Siemens Gamesa, the world\u2019s largest offshore turbine maker.<\/p>\n

Building offshore wind farms from scratch is capital-intensive. To make projects viable, governments in Denmark, Norway, Belgium, England, Canada, Australia, Japan, and South Korea provide billions of dollars in debt guarantees through national export credit agencies.<\/p>\n

This is not only an investigation into the gap between corporate policies and practice, but a story about how the gap can be bridged when civil society and public authorities work together. Sometimes, a single case is enough to spark change.<\/p>\n

High Fees and Withheld Wages<\/p>\n

Several of Taiwan\u2019s largest offshore wind farms have their underwater foundations made by Century Wind Power, a subsidiary of Century Iron and Steel. Every day, hundreds of migrant workers are shuttled on company buses from a dorm with security in Taoyuan, surrounded by farmland, to a restricted section of Taipei\u2019s port. That setup makes it unusually hard to approach workers safely, but the buses can\u2019t squeeze down the narrow lanes leading to the dorm, and during morning and evening shift changes workers walk the last stretch. That\u2019s when we approached them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI borrowed everything to pay the recruiter\u2019s $5,300 fee. My family had no savings. Now that I repay the money in installments, I also pay interest,\u201d said a young Vietnamese man, who was still indebted, when we first interviewed him. He later said it took 11-12 months to pay off the debt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 1,000 migrant workers are employed at Century Wind Power and another 400 at its parent, according to company sources.<\/p>\n

Every Vietnamese worker we interviewed said they paid $5,000-$6,000 to recruiters back home, equivalent to 2.5 to 3 years of Vietnam\u2019s minimum-wage earnings. All said they had to borrow to pay. Some were also charged an additional $500 deposit, which was returned within the first six months of work in Taiwan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to sign a paper stating that I paid $4,000, even though I paid $6,000,\u201d said another worker. Fearful of speaking up, he cancelled our meeting four times before we finally met.<\/p>\n

Workers also complained that part of their monthly wages \u2013 amounting to four months of base pay during a three-year contract \u2013 was transferred to a separate account they couldn\u2019t access. The amount is visible on every pay slip we received. They said brokers told them the money would be returned once they went home. In addition, workers said they were charged monthly broker service fees, equivalent to two months of base pay per three-year contract, which they described as unfair.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interviewees said they felt deceived. Recruiters had not mentioned the \u201csavings\u201d account, or that workers would spend up to two unpaid hours a day commuting between the dorm and the factory \u2013 what they called \u201cdead time.\u201d Workers on 12-hour shifts are typically housed in dorms near the workplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRecruiters told us that welders would earn a monthly base salary of NT$32,000,\u201d one Vietnamese worker said, \u201cbut we get what unskilled workers get, the minimum wage.\u201d Taiwan\u2019s minimum wage was NT$27,470 in 2024 and NT$28,590 in 2025. Several workers had fled because of this, said interviewees.<\/p>\n

Workers also described punishments for mistakes on the factory floor, including threats of deportation, warning letters, and cash fines.<\/p>\n

Another major supplier for several offshore wind farms is CS Wind Offshore (formerly Denmark-based Bladt Industries, now owned by South Korea\u2019s CS Wind Corporation), which in partnership with Taiwan\u2019s Chin Fong Machinery produces steel towers for the offshore wind farms. Chin Fong operates four factories in Taiwan and employs several hundred migrant workers. CS Wind is the world\u2019s largest manufacturer of wind turbine towers.<\/p>\n

Former and current Thai workers from Chin Fong said that overseas recruits had paid fees for jobs. Some said that they had to go into debt to cover fees of $2,500-2,800, which they said took up to a year to repay. They also reported threats of deportation if workers did not comply with supervisors\u2019 orders, and said that the company held workers\u2019 passports until recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

None of these issues are unique to these two manufacturers, but endemic in Taiwan\u2019s manufacturing space more broadly. Between 2022 and 2025, my team and I conducted around 200 interviews with migrant workers on forced labor issues, published in a dozen articles and summarized in my March 2025 report \u201cSpeed Up \u2013 addressing forced labor risks in Taiwan\u2019s car, bicycle and electronics industries<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

For years, human rights campaigners have called for Taiwan\u2019s government to prohibit all worker-borne fees paid in Taiwan or elsewhere, and for Taiwan\u2019s government protect and promote migrant workers\u2019 freedom of association.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms. Courtesy of \u00d8rsted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Headwind: Commitments Blowing In The Wind<\/p>\n

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and \u00d8rsted are required to ensure that supply-chain workers do not pay recruitment fees \u2013 and that any fees detected are reimbursed \u2013 when their offshore wind projects are backed by certain export credit agencies. Denmark\u2019s export credit agency EIFO (under the Ministry of Business) confirmed this.<\/p>\n

Yet in their responses, the two Danish owners of some of Taiwan\u2019s largest offshore wind farms did not commit to investigate these issues raised by workers. Nor did Vestas, Denmark\u2019s and the world\u2019s largest turbine manufacturer and a minority-owner of CIP.<\/p>\n

Siemens Gamesa, however, said it would look into the matter, citing \u201chigh compliance requirements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

CIP describes itself as the world\u2019s largest greenfield renewable energy fund manager. Vestas holds a 25 percent stake in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Holding P\/S, and Vesta\u2019s CEO sits on the board. Through its funds, CIP is a majority owner of the Fengmiao and Changfang-Xidao offshore wind farms, where Century Wind Power is a direct supplier. CIP also holds a stake in the Zhong Neng farm. CS Wind\/Chin Fong supplies towers for Zhong Neng and Changfang-Xidao as part of Vestas\u2019 supply chain.<\/p>\n

Investors in CIP\u2019s funds include major pension funds in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, and the U.S. \u2013 giving them ownership exposure to projects such as Fengmiao. The Government Pension Fund of Norway, the world\u2019s biggest, invested $900 million in the CIP-managed fund that partly finances Fengmiao. It also holds a $2.2 billion stake in Siemens Energy (the parent of Siemens Gamesa) as well as stakes in Vestas, and Century Iron and Steel, the parent company of Century Wind Power. Over the past four years, I have identified debt-bondage risks at many of the Norwegian Pension Fund\u2019s investees<\/a> in Taiwan.<\/p>\n

CIP said that Century Wind Power is audited quarterly, and that the \u201clast audit in September 2025 found no indicators of forced labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Danish investment fund further said that it \u201cdo(es) not recognize the concerns raised about working conditions for migrant workers at our Taiwanese suppliers\u2026 Internal and external audits and assessments verify that our suppliers satisfy both international standards and local regulations.\u201d The fund emphasized that its \u201cmain suppliers (Century Wind Power, Vestas) are contractually required to comply with ILO Standards.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A 2025 social impact assessment<\/a> for CIP\u2019s Fengmiao project said that workers \u201care not to be charged any fees related to recruitment or employment. In the event such payments have been made, they will be refunded.\u201d<\/p>\n

CIP did not respond to questions regarding how this is enforced in practice.<\/p>\n

\u00d8rsted, majority owned by the Danish government, owns all or substantial stakes in Greater Changhua 1 and 2a, where Century Wind Power is a direct supplier, and CS Wind\/Chin Fong supplies towers through Siemens Gamesa. \u00d8rsted also receives towers from CS Wind\/Chin Fong via Siemens Gamesa for Formosa 1. \u00d8rsted confirmed that its no-fee recruitment policy applies to business partners and said it has used a risk-based due diligence framework since \u201centering contracts with Century Wind Power and Siemens Gamesa in 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00d8rsted did not disclose if its risk assessments had identified recruitment fees and forced labor indicators the past eight years.<\/p>\n

Vestas also requires suppliers to \u201censure that no employment fees or costs are charged, in whole or in part, to any employee.\u201d Vestas confirmed sourcing towers from CS Wind\/Chin Fong with CS Wind as its contractual partner. \u201cCS Wind uses Chin Fong\u2019s facilities in Taiwan. CS Wind has responsibility for all employment activities \u2026 including working conditions, payments, etc. at the factory,\u201d Vestas said. Vestas did not commit to taking up the issues with its supplier, but simply said that its \u201csuppliers are responsible for ensuring that everything is in order, so we refer you to CS Wind.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Century Wind Power also supplies underwater structures for the Formosa 4 and Hailong 2 and 3 farms, whose owners include Northland (Canada), Mitsui & Co (Japan), Synera Renewable Energy (US), CPC Corporation (Taiwan) and Taipower (Taiwan). Mitsui & Co. and CPC Corporation promised to investigate further. Export credit agencies providing financial guarantees for these projects also require that migrant workers do not pay recruitment fees.<\/p>\n

Tailwind: Government Agencies Driving Change<\/p>\n

Export credit agencies from the U.K., Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere provide more than $5 billion in guarantees linked to offshore farms described in this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Danish, Norwegian, and Belgian agencies said they would act, and immediately began doing so. The other agencies did not respond to our request for comment, or merely referred to published policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The three agencies said that our findings had prompted discussions about conducting in-depth labor audits among relevant suppliers. The Danish and Norwegian agencies also reiterated their commitment to ethical, employer-paid recruitment and said that they would use their leverage to secure remedy for affected workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Denmark\u2019s export credit agency, EIFO, disclosed the nine offshore wind projects it financed in Taiwan between 2018-25. These projects have multiple involvements of CIP, \u00d8rsted, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, CWP, and CS Wind\/Chin Fong. EIFO said that it \u201crequire(s) project companies to follow international standards for ethical recruitment, including a zero-fee policy, as part of our due diligence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

EIFO said that \u201cthe issues you describe are serious, and we have initiated a formal enhanced review to establish the facts.\u201d Its head of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) visited companies in Taiwan in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the visit confirms any issues, we will \u2013 together with our partners and other export credit agencies \u2013 explore options to initiate a joint, extended labor rights audit of relevant suppliers\u2026 Should the audit identify harm to workers, we will use our leverage to ensure that the responsible parties provide remedy,\u201d EIFO said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After returning from Taiwan, EIFO said in January that the visit to Century Wind Power had \u201cindicated potential labor rights concerns. Based on these observations, we have engaged with leading actors in the offshore wind industry in Taiwan, as well as other export credit agencies, to initiate efforts aimed at addressing the challenges in a coordinated manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taiwan\u2019s Ministry of Economic Affairs also promised support. \u201cThe Ministry will also assign experts to assist Century Wind Power in reviewing its current employment and management practices concerning foreign migrant workers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ministry also confirmed that Taipower and CPC Corporation are state-owned companies and minority owners of the Formosa 4 farm, where Century Wind Power is contracted to supply subsea foundations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The jacket foundations at Taiwan Strait for Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms. Courtesy of \u00d8rsted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eye of The Storm: Taiwan\u2019s Offshore Wind Sector<\/p>\n

Century Wind Power said, at first, that it was compliant with all relevant laws and international conventions and that, \u201ctogether with our clients, (it) continuously audits the human rights and labor conditions of migrant workers to ensure no violations occur.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like the Danish offshore wind companies CIP, \u00d8rsted, and Vestas, it did not commit to specific follow-up actions. This was before EIFO\u2019s visit in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In January, Century Wind Power said it had \u201cconducted internal surveys and interviews\u201d and confirmed that migrant workers\u2019 fees and deceptive recruitment were among the issues it would address in the near future, together with experts. It also said that it had now stopped the \u201csavings account\u201d practice and had transferred the balances into workers\u2019 regular bank accounts, but emphasized that it was mutually agreed with workers to set up savings accounts.<\/p>\n

CS Wind did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Its Taiwanese partner, Chin Fong Machinery, confirmed that Chin Fong kept workers\u2019 passports until January 2024, but said this happened \u201conly if they voluntarily signed a consent letter\u201d and that workers could retrieve their passports any time. Chin Fong said it was not aware of fees paid by its Thai employees to recruiters, but would investigate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen employers say that migrant workers voluntarily agree to certain practices, it is important to recognize that workers rarely feel they have a genuine choice because their legal status, livelihood, and daily survival depend heavily on the employer\u2019s mercy,\u201d said Father Peter Nguyen Van Hung, a Catholic priest in Taiwan who has long defended migrant workers. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis imbalance is further reinforced by the broker system: employers often rely on brokers for information, recruitment, and communication, while brokers exercise significant control over migrant workers\u2019 contracts, mobility, and even personal behavior. In practice, brokers frequently mediate and manipulate the relationship between employers and workers, pressuring workers to comply while reassuring employers that everything is \u2018voluntary,\u2019 thereby obscuring coercion and undermining true consent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Century Wind Power and CS Wind\/Chin Fong are major suppliers, they are not the only ones. Taiwan\u2019s Ministry of Economic Affairs required a significant share of turbine and structure components to be sourced locally, at least in earlier offshore projects. Siemens Gamesa confirmed that its Taiwan-based factory works with various suppliers in Taiwan. Vestas said that it had no comments, but according to its press releases it procures blade materials, switchgear, and cables from Taiwanese suppliers, and turbine parts from two major Taiwanese electronics firms according to trade databases.<\/p>\n

None of the wind farm owners and turbine makers commented on migrant workers\u2019 conditions at Chin Fong. EIFO said that \u201cwe have been informed that the supplier, CS Wind, leases production facilities from Chin Fong but uses its own\u00a0workforce, who operate under appropriate conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

While registry information shows that the Taiwanese subsidiary of South Korea\u2019s CS Wind employs around 180 workers, publicly available recruitment notices indicate that Chin Fong recruits production workers for the factory floor at the Taichung port factory that serves as the base for the CS Wind\/Chin Fong collaboration.<\/p>\n

In 2024, we described how thousands of migrant workers recruited by a Taiwanese partner of Samsung C&T, another Korean firm, to expand Taiwan\u2019s international airport<\/a> in Taoyuan wore Samsung-logo uniforms and believed they were employed by Samsung. We also described how workers risked debt bondage due to high recruitment fees. In February 2026, the state-owned Taoyuan International Airport Corporation said migrant workers were still being charged labor broker fees, and that 353 new workers from abroad had been recruited by Samsung C&T and its Taiwanese partner in 2025. Samsung C&T said nothing.<\/p>\n

Winds Of Change: Sector-wide improvements?<\/p>\n

Proactive, coordinated steps by some of the export credit agencies \u2013 including the Danish agency EIFO\u2019s swift visit to Taiwan \u2013 raise hopes not only for site-specific remedies such as reimbursements of recruitment costs at Century Wind Power and increased transparency on conditions at CS Wind\/Chin Fong, but for broader, sector-wide change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this is a complex area, we see clear value in using our combined leverage to work more systematically with these issues. Together with key industry actors, we are in the process of establishing a memorandum of understanding that sets out a shared intention to collaborate on improving conditions for migrant workers. The challenges we are addressing may have relevance beyond individual projects and suppliers,\u201d EIFO said in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, the industry collaboration will map the issues in detail and outline potential pathways for improvement, which \u201cwill help inform next steps and any subsequent measures taken in cooperation with the relevant companies and stakeholders,\u201d EIFO said, adding that it also welcomed input from civil society actors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sometimes, unlikely alliances form. When companies fail conducting adequate supply chain due diligence, civil society groups and public agencies can help push issues onto the agenda and drive remedy. In this case, export credit agencies responded to a journalistic investigation, and Taiwan\u2019s Ministry of Economic Affairs signaled support as well.<\/p>\n

A similar dynamic played out in Taiwan\u2019s bicycle industry. In September 2025, a U.S. government agency banned imports<\/a> from Giant Manufacturing in Taiwan due to forced labor concerns raised through reporting and civil-society advocacy. The ripple effects<\/a> are still unfolding. Later in 2025, the three bicycle industry giants \u2013 Giant, Merida, and Maxxis \u2013 paid an estimated $8-9 million in compensation to migrant workers. Taiwan\u2019s government also convened cross-sector seminars on U.S. and EU forced-labor regulations.<\/p>\n

When companies ignore warning signs raised by workers and civil society groups, whistleblowers should have a safe way to bring concerns to public authorities with a mandate to hold companies legally accountable. More cooperation between civil society and government entities could help the winds of change blow, benefiting workers across global supply chains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taiwan is rapidly expanding its offshore wind sector as part of a broader push for clean energy. While…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[285],"tags":[1414,287,32796,176,47983,47984,47985,47986],"class_list":["post-91117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orsted","tag-economy","tag-orsted","tag-southeast-asia","tag-taiwan","tag-taiwan-energy-security","tag-taiwan-forced-labor","tag-taiwan-labor-rights","tag-taiwan-labor-violations"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116629902736894261","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}