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The ECCT was a supporting organiser of the 2024 Energy Taiwan & Net-Zero Taiwan’s Taiwan Offshore Wind Competitiveness Forum, held online. During the event, opening remarks were made by Polin Chen, Vice Chairman of the GESA Wind Energy Industry Committee and H Henry Chang, ECCT LCI Chair, after which presentations were given by representatives from government and corporations involved in the wind energy industry.

The purpose of the forum was to provide insights on innovative decarbonisation solutions including renewable wind energy, ocean power, hydrogen, as well as market mechanisms, such as international carbon trading models and carbon pricing mechanisms, the EU’s pending Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and virtual power plants (VPPs). 

In his presentation, Chen Chung-hsien, Director of the Energy Administration (EA) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) spoke about Taiwan’s offshore wind development policy and future plans. He shared some statistics on the global offshore wind energy market and Taiwan’s current status. He also addressed some of the challenges facing operators including costs, liquidity problems and difficulties in financing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). He said that the government will encourage state-owned banks to participate in offshore wind projects and implement credit guarantee mechanism. Regarding the future development of floating offshore wind (FOW), pilot projects are now in the planning phase. The government is expected to approve two or three pilot projects with 6-12 floaters in each project. 

Chiang Mao-hsiung, Dean of the College of Engineering at National Taiwan University, spoke about the future development trends of offshore wind power. His presentation included an introduction to various FOW platforms being considered for future FOW projects as well as marine power and floating solar PV options. He concluded with an overview of NTU’s courses aimed at developing talent for the industry, including cooperation with the ECCT.

In his presentation, Jason Wang, Deputy Head of EPC Management APAC for Skyborn Renewables spoke about creating sustainable value. He gave an update on the firm’s wind energy projects, including projects that have been completed, and those that have been delayed and the firm’s Yunlin offshore wind farm, which was successfully financially restructured in August 2023. He noted that the project enjoyed consistent government backing throughout its development and his team rapidly developed new installation methods and procedure, based on lessons learned from past experiences.

In his presentation Gero Norman Tschierscke, Head of Global Business Development for Siemens Gamesa gave a strategic view of offshore wind energy development in Taiwan and APEC. He noted that there is a global offshore order backlog of 22.1GW to be installed by 2027. He gave an overview of the company’s operations in Taiwan. The company’s turbine evolution shows expansion in size and capacity from 6MW to the latest generation of 14MW with blade lengths of 115 metres. The company’s local nacelle factory started production in the summer of 2024. It aims to serve not just Taiwan but also other projects in the region. To date, Taiwan has been the largest market in the region (outside of China) but other markets (Japan and South Korea) are expected to catch up within the next few years. This is a positive development as it will help to absorb regional production capacity. He said that there is a risk of APAC falling behind the other markets, especially Europe, given intensified competition for scarce resources. However, there is also an opportunity for stronger regional supply chain cooperation, especially between Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. 

In his presentation Ben Darrington, Chief Operating Officer of Dong Fang Offshore gave an introduction to his company and spoke about some of the challenges of working in Taiwan. The company buys or builds vessels for use in offshore wind farms, some of them customised for the Taiwan market. The main challenges in Taiwan are extreme weather conditions, strong ocean currents, long and persistent swells and rapidly changing weather conditions. In addition, high interface heights and deep-water sites require larger cranes while soft and variable soils make building foundations more difficult. Taiwan also has a shortage of qualified personnel and a lack of export credit, subsidy schemes and limited double tax agreements, all of which drives up costs.

In his presentation Nathan Low, Regional Business Development Manager and Lewis Stevenson, Technical Sales Engineer, for Mooreast introduced their company, which provides mooring solutions, including anchors and related equipment and systems for FOW platforms.

In his presentation, Mark Richmond, Senior Engineer and Taiwan Area Manager for DNV gave an introduction to his company, its project certification services, including certification for FOW. The firm has certified 21 projects in emerging markets, including Taiwan. On FOW, the firm has introduced specific standards for FOW and is involved in certifying several FOW projects globally.