Seeing how various sectors have been recently focusing on the differences in development and cost on offshore wind farms between Taiwan and overseas, and pointing out that the cost of establishing offshore wind power is much lower in overseas, the Taiwan Offshore Wind Industry Association (TOWIA) commented that each country deals with its respective challenges in offshore wind power development, and is thus required to seek for the most optimal solutions according to local conditions.
SEMI Wind Energy Industry Committee also recently commented that offshore wind farms in Taiwan are currently being funded and established by developers, and the profitability of tendering wind farms is based on the power purchase contracts with enterprise users, apart from the FiT of TPC for demonstration and selected wind farms in the past. As a result, the target of establishing offshore wind farms is to ensure more than 25 years of unobstructed operation, and continuous power generation, as well as quality and delivery.
The level of construction difficulties is higher at the Taiwan Strait compared to other areas due to its faster current and deeper seabed. TOWIA pointed out that Taiwan, having decided to establish offshore wind farms at areas with a water depth of more than 20 meters due to concerns on the ecology of coastal waters, has adopted different maritime engineering specifications and construction methods, and shoulders the responsibilities in constituting a local industry chain and cultivating local specialists throughout the construction process.
TOWIA commented that investment plans and sum for wind farm development and construction, according to experience from the international sector, require coherency with conditions of each wind farm, before developers would evaluate and allocate corresponding investment sum, in order to ensure quality and safety throughout the construction process within the given time period that can then provide stable green power for users.
As pointed out by the SEMI Wind Energy Industry Committee, the current four major trends in the development of the global offshore wind power industry include: 1) acceleration on offshore wind power establishment in various countries, 2) aggressive development in advanced technology such as large-scale wind turbines and floating wind farms, 3) acceleration on renewable energy applications and industrial decarbonization through innovative energy technology, and 4) expedition on net-zero transformation for overall supply chain by adhering to the target of industrial sustainability. Taiwanese offshore power developers, following closely behind the development tendencies of global technology, are now heavily engaged in building next-gen offshore wind power advancement.
(Cover photo source: TechNews)