LS Cable clinches 2nd contract for Taiwan farm

LS Cable & System won a 118.4 billion won ($100.4 million) deal to establish an underwater power grid in Taiwan, the company said Friday.

The deal was placed by Denmark’s state-owned power company Orsted, which is contracted by the Taiwanese government to develop a wind farm in Changhua County by 2022. LS Cable & System will be in charge of the power cables that transfer energy generated from the offshore wind farm to the island.

This is LS’s second contract for the project. The first was signed in January.

The Taiwanese government plans to invest $23 billion through 2025 to increase the proportion of renewable energy to account for 20 percent of the country’s electricity from the current 5 percent.

The wind farm in Changhua is the largest such project, according to LS, with an annual production capacity of 900 milliwatt. This is close to what one nuclear generator can produce in a year.

One of the largest electrical cable manufacturers in the world, the company has prior experience working with Orsted on submarine cables, including the Hornsea project in Britain, which is the world’s largest wind farm. Compared to aerial or underground cables, submarine cables require a high level of technology as they have to withstand pressure and strong waves in the sea.

“After launching our business in submarine cables in 2009, LS Cable & System has reached the global top tier in the last 10 years,” said LS Cable & System CEO Myung Roe-hyun in a statement.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]