Offshore Wind In Asia – Insurance Considerations In China And Taiwan.

Asia is the new frontier for offshore wind, and this represents a huge opportunity for local and international insurers. State-led initiatives to move away from coal and nuclear power and an awareness of the need to find more sustainable, longer term power sources has led to a large push to emulate the large-scale offshore wind projects which had previously been limited to Europe.

For international developers the lower labour and land rental costs are attractive compared to the higher start-up costs experienced in Europe. The local government backing for renewables projects provides further incentive, and this should ensure continued growth. For underwriters, there are risks associated with writing such projects (not least the heightened risk of natural catastrophes) but there are obvious advantages to early entrants if these risks can be managed and priced appropriately.

This paper considers the risks associated with the construction and operation of offshore wind farms in Asia, and how insurance policies in Asia might respond to these risks. We focus on two of the fastest-growing jurisdictions for offshore wind, China and Taiwan. Although geographically close, China and Taiwan are adopting very different approaches to the development of their offshore projects, and the insurance of the same. Further, we address the legal environment in China and Taiwan which is significantly different to that in Europe, and this will have an influence on coverage, claims handling procedure and disputes.

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