Japan's biggest power generator JERA plans to sell its stake in a yet-to-be-built offshore wind project in Taiwan, Nikkei reported late on Friday, on concerns about high construction costs and low profitability.
JERA plans to sell its 44% stake in the Formosa 3 project off the central-western coast of Taiwan, with the potential buyer and a selling price yet to be decided, Nikkei said.
According to the report, JERA intends to keep its interest in the Formosa 1 wind power project, launched in 2019, and the nearby Formosa 2 project which is preparing to start operations after the last of its 47 wind turbine generators was installed last month.
A JERA spokesperson declined to comment on the Formosa 3 project's status but said: "while comprehensively considering profitability, business environment, risks and so on, we change portfolio and build the optimal asset portfolio at each time."
Formosa 3, with a total capacity of 2 gigawatts, will be launched in the second half of the decade, becoming one of the world's biggest offshore wind farms, as other projects globally, including Dogger Bank Wind Farm in Britain, are being developed.
(Reuters - Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)