Taiwan’s 66-turbine offshore wind farm uses suction-bucket foundations instead of pile driving, keeping installation noise near natural background levels
Sometimes, the very projects that are designed to protect the planet can create problems of their own.
Traditionally, the construction of wind farms at sea has come with its fair share of noise, which can be disruptive to the marine life living beneath the waves.
But is there a way to build at scale without making the sea and its creatures pay the price?
Once they are in the correct spot, water from inside the buckets is pumped out, and the difference in pressure draws the structure into the sediment.
An offshore operation of epic proportions
Ørsted recently celebrated the completion of construction works at its Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms in September 2026, which are located off Taiwan’s west coast.
This big project comprises 66 turbines with 920 megawatts of capacity.
Sitting 22 to 37 miles off Changhua County, the conditions in the Taiwan Strait can pose many challenges when it comes to construction.
Work on this build kicked off in February 2025, with the installation of the turbines following in April.
The turbines were supplied by Siemens Gamesa, and they were installed using Cadeler’s vessel, Wind Maker.
The installation of the final turbine took place in January 2026. With commissioning still to be completed, the September celebration was to mark progress towards becoming fully operational.
The sound of a smart solution
One of the key achievements of this build is not the scale, nor is it visible above the water.
Conventionl pile driving can create significant underwater noise when steel piles get hammered into the sea bed – this is why this project has avoided this method when constructing the foundations.
What do they do instead?
According to Ørsted, the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 site uses suction-bucket jacket foundations, which can keep underwater installation noise close to background levels.
With sound travelling so effectively underwater, noise generated by construction can disturb marine animals that rely on sound for navigation, communication, finding food and detecting danger.
The secret is beneath the surface
The defining innovation of this project is the choice of foundation.
And this occurred alongside a world first: the deployment of 14 MW turbines with blades of this length, the installation of which took 275 days.
But how do suction-bucket foundations work?
The science behind the suction
The bases of these foundations are bucket-shaped and use pressure differences to secure, eliminating the need to drive piles into the seabed.
Once they are in the correct spot, water from inside the buckets is pumped out, and the difference in pressure draws the structure into the sediment.
This means that the disruptive hammers and blows that are associated with conventional pile driving can be avoided.
While no construction is entirely silent, this method makes a big difference.
When bigger really is better
These turbines, which each have a capacity of 14 MW and boast 377-foot blades, are some of the biggest ever deployed offshore.
Before contruction was even wrapped up, this wind farm started delivering electricity to Taiwan’s national grid in July 2025.
A win for energy, and the environment
What makes this project so notable is that Greater Changhua 2b and 4 is the first in the Asia-Pacific region to deploy piling-free suction-bucket jacket foundations at this scale.
After this milestone in construction, Ørsted’s wider Greater Changhua cluster reached 1.82 GW of installed capacity.
A quieter solution for a greener future
Offshore wind farms can help to build a greener future. But it should not come at the expense of our oceans and their inhabitants.
The engineering choices made at Greater Changhua, however, shows that renewable energy ambitions can – and should – be balanced with greater care for marine life and coastal communities.
What if offshore wind turbines could actually benefit marine ecosystems, as demonstrated by this surprising discovery off Portugal?
