Increasing the proportion of renewable energy is one of the important trends in energy development around the world. Taiwan has a unique potential for wind farms, which is an important niche to promote energy transformation, which will move the nation towards a low carbon society. At the same time, this may be a key opportunity for the transformation of the heavy industry. The development of offshore wind energy will be an opportunity for Taiwan to create the next wave of industry peaks. The Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), NKUST, Sing Da Marine Structure, and TÜV Rheinland Taiwan held a launch ceremony for the Offshore Wind Energy Global Welding Technician Training Base to realize the effective integration of industry, academic, and research resources and promote talent cultivation as well as the international competitiveness of the wind energy industry.
In order to support the government's underwater foundation localization policy, Sing Da Marine Structure is expected to complete the first underwater jacket made in Taiwan by the second quarter of 2020. The plant construction, manufacturing technology upgrade, talent cultivation, and international accreditation operations are in full swing. For the wind farm developers' qualification requirements of domestic welders, they not only rely on the rich experience of the MIRDC in the on-the-job training of welding technicians, but also the welding internship factory of the Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, National Kaohsiung Marine University, as well as the globally recognized accreditation expert TÜV Rheinland. Together, they held the first training course for global welding technician accreditation; those who pass the test will be awarded the EN ISO 9606 qualified welder certificate issued by TÜV Rheinland.
Dr. Ren-Yi Lin, chairman of MIRDC, said that MIRDC has expertise in the planning of customized courses related to offshore wind energy welding training. Through the welding internship factory provided by the Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, NKUST, that was selected as a qualified welding technician evaluator by the Ministry of Labor and thus upgraded to the Offshore Wind Energy Global Welding Technician Training Base, and the close cooperation with TÜV Rheinland and offshore wind energy underwater foundation and tower manufacturers provides a solid foundation for Taiwan’s offshore wind energy projects thanks to the international welding quality system certification (ISO 3834), structural steel certification (EN 1090), welding training, specification and qualification of welding procedures for metallic materials, welding procedure test (EN ISO 15614), qualification testing for welders, qualification testing of welding operators (EN ISO 9606/EN ISO 14732), ISO 9712 non-destructive testing training and examination, and second/third party inspection services that result from the cooperation. (Please contact Ms. Lin of the Industrial Human Resource Development Section, MIRDC, at 07-3513121 ext. 2478 for information regarding the international welding technician training.)