BlueFloat Energy, ranking amongst the leading players in floating offshore wind with one of the largest floating wind pipelines across the globe and present in Taiwan since May 2022 when it unveiled plans to develop its 1 GW Winds of September offshore wind project, has announced the signature of two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with National Taiwan University (NTU) and Ship and Ocean Industries R&D Center (SOIC). These important collaboration agreements will focus on fostering training, education, and technology development to accelerate the progress of floating wind energy in Taiwan.
BlueFloat Energy Taiwan Country Manager, Michael Pinkerton, said: “As a developer dedicated to the deployment of floating offshore wind, we place specific emphasis on maritime engineering expertise, coupled with the technical capabilities and knowledge integration services of SOIC, which will prove a winning combination for the industry. Furthermore, the recent establishment of the ‘national team’ of the offshore wind talents by National Taiwan University at its Yunlin Branch this September is something we are committed to support. The signing of these two Memoranda of Understanding marks just the beginning of our collaboration. We look forward to exploring more possibilities, particularly if related policies on floating offshore wind can be clarified in a timely manner.”
The Director C.C. Song, the Ship and Ocean Technology Research Center of NTU, and SOIC´s CEO, S.K Chou, have both expressed their support for the Taiwanese government’s vision – accelerating the development of floating projects as one of the essential levers to achieve the 2050 net-zero emissions target.
As the shallower areas nearshore suitable for offshore wind are being exhausted, the upcoming Round 3 auctions will inevitably involve wind farms in deepwater areas where fixed bottom technology is no longer feasible, triggering the deployment of floating offshore wind technology. Given this floating wind potential, the government announced in 2022 their intention to run a floating demonstration project bid.
Most recently, BlueFloat Energy has achieved a major milestone by successfully passing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) panel review on 6 October 2023, which sets the company on the path to participate in the upcoming floating demonstration project bid. In March 2023, it successfully deployed a floating LiDAR to collect metocean data (including wind, wave, and current) to refine its wind resource assessment and inform floater and mooring engineering work.
The MoU will seek to research and undertake technical studies with regards to floating offshore wind systems in the environmental conditions of Taiwan Strait leveraging the expertise and knowledge of all the parties.
BlueFloat Energy values Taiwan as an important market for its activities in Asia. Pioneering the development of the offshore wind energy industry in the Asia-Pacific region and continuously nurturing local expertise will not only meet Taiwan’s domestic employment needs in the wind energy sector, but also position Taiwan as an exporter of offshore wind energy expertise. Therefore, during the week of Energy Taiwan, the company has also signed another MoU with National Taiwan University (NTU) to support the ‘Offshore Wind Power Industry Talent and Technology Development Program’ project sponsored by the Ministry of Education (MOE), to engage in courses, industry expert sharing, personnel exchanges, and other talent development activities, actively fostering opportunities for industry-academia collaboration in training and education.
By collaborating with local academic and research institutions, BlueFloat Energy aims to gather essential data for the early deployment of various floating technologies in Taiwanese waters. It hopes that the government will soon announce the guidelines for the floating wind demonstration project bid. This will allow BlueFloat Energy to contribute its expertise to the emerging floating wind industry in Taiwan, by assessing the existing infrastructure, and supply chain readiness, mapping out gaps and upgrade requirements, ensuring the suitability of Taiwan’s ports for quayside activities before embarking on large scale commercial floating wind farm development in the future.
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Energy Global’s Autumn 2023 issue
The Autumn 2023 issue of Energy Global hosts an array of technical articles focusing on green hydrogen, wind installation technology, blade monitoring solutions, and more. This issue also features a regional report looking at some key renewables projects in Australia.
