Taipei, 25 April: Today the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) are hosting the Global Offshore Wind Summit - Taiwan with the ECCT’s Low Carbon Initiative, this is the official event for the offshore wind industry in Taiwan, gathering both local and global investment groups, energy companies, project developers and regulators to discuss the promising future of Taiwan’s booming offshore wind market. The summit will be the first event to gather leaders from both local parties to discuss the boost of Taiwan’s economy through continued investment in offshore wind.

With significant growth in recent years, Taiwan’s offshore wind market is expected to continue to continually grow, with a goal of achieving 5.5 GW of installed capacity by 2025. Wind energy growth in Taiwan holds potential for substantial local investment in projects, infrastructure, local supply chains and job creation. If Taiwan reaches its 5.5 GW target, this could bring nearly NT$880bn inward investment and create an estimated 20,000 local jobs due to agreements being signed by Taiwanese supply chain companies.

Shen Jong-Chin, Minister of Economic Affairs for Taiwan, said: “Taiwan has some of the best offshore wind farms located in the Taiwan Strait. To fully explore the potential of wind energy and reach the target of 20% renewable energy generation by 2025, the government has worked on building sound infrastructures and improving regulations to attract investment from both domestic and foreign offshore wind developers. I am honoured and pleased to share that for the first time the ECCT and GWEC together held the Global Offshore Wind Summit in Taiwan, which marks the significance of Taiwan as an important player in the global offshore wind market. It is an ideal channel for knowing more about Taiwan’s experience and success stories in developing further offshore wind power projects in the region”.

Freddie Höglund, CEO of the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan, said: “This summit comes at a crucial time as Taiwan is on the brink of becoming one of the world's largest offshore wind markets. The summit will serve as the defining forum to crystallise solutions to the remaining regulatory, financial and logistics hurdles that need to be overcome to allow the rapid roll-out of wind energy infrastructure and secure Taiwan's reputation as a global renewable energy leader”.

Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC, said: “Seeing the ongoing foreign investment in Taiwan confirms its potential to become the second largest offshore market in Asia, as forecasters have rightly predicted, and Taiwan’s economy will benefit massively from these investments. The local leaders’ willingness to meet and discuss the opportunities for job creation and the development of local supply chains shows that Taiwan is setting the example as a region that’s ready for business and promoting offshore wind development. We are excited to bring business and industry leaders together with local policy makers in one place to facilitate this process.”

Key speakers include representatives from global energy and investment companies, such as: MHI Vestas, Macquarie Investment Group, Northland Power, wpd Taiwan, Orsted, Siemens Gamesa, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, DNV GL – Energy, and EnBW. The event will also see attendance from central and local policy makers, including Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Minister Shen Jong-Chin, Acting Head of Energy Chun-Li Lee of the Bureau of Energy, and Deputy Director General Yang Chih-ching of the Industrial Development Bureau among others, including local government representatives such as Cheng Wen-Tsan, Mayor of Taoyuan City.

A roundtable meeting between local government stakeholders and industry also occurred within the framework of the Global Offshore Wind Summit – Taiwan, taking place a day before the event on the 24 April in the Taichung City Hall. Organised by ECCT and GWEC, this meeting brought together key mayors and local government stakeholders in the region to discuss progressing the development of the offshore wind industry in Taiwan.

Opening remarks were given by Yang Chiung-ying, Deputy Mayor of Taichung City, Giuseppe Izzo, Chairman of ECCT, and Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC. This was followed by a session for local government stakeholders to exchange their experiences with offshore wind industry leaders and discuss how to support the establishment of Taiwan as a regional hub for offshore development in Asia, exploring how they can take advantage of the economic opportunities and environmental benefits the offshore industry can bring to local communities.

About the ECCT

With over US$50 billion in direct foreign investments, European businesses are collectively the largest group of foreign investors in Taiwan. The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan is the only foreign nationwide business chamber in Taiwan and the principal organisation promoting European business interests in Taiwan. The chamber represents over 900 members from 400 companies and organisations. Through a network of 30 industry and support committees, the ECCT has been successful in addressing specific concerns and providing concrete recommendations to all levels of government to facilitate improving the business environment. The ECCT annually publishes a series of position papers that comprise issues identified by its committees as hindering the further development of their respective industries and provide recommendations to the government of Taiwan for improvement of the business environment on general issues as well as industry-specific problems. They also serve to keep the European Commission and parliament as well as the governments of individual European countries informed about Taiwan’s business environment.

About GWEC

GWEC is a member-based organization that represents the entire wind energy sector. The members of GWEC represent over 1,500 companies, organizations and institutions in more than 80 countries, including manufacturers, developers, component suppliers, research institutes, national wind and renewables associations, electricity providers, finance and insurance companies. See https://gwec.net/

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