Executive Yuan approved in 2017 to construct “Maritime Technology Innovation Center (MTIC)” at Xing Da Harbor Kaohsiung. It is one of the forward-looking infrastructure plans for green energy construction. PhaseⅠof “Maritime Talent Competence Division” and “Maritime Technology Development Division” have been put into formal use as of January, 2021. The PhaseⅡ of “Offshore Engineering Center” is scheduled to carry out groundbreaking ceremony on 27th April. Ministry of Economic Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government, and distinguished guests would be invited to participate in the ceremony of breaking the ground with spade for good future.
“Offshore Engineering Center” will be utilized as an experiment field for sea area simulation in a national level to link with maritime technology industry and implement technology localization. The goal is to strive the center itself for being an international offshore engineering technology innovation and certification institution.
Chiu-Feng Lin, the President of Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), pointed out that the design capability of underwater infrastructure for domestic offshore wind energy construction needs to be established urgently. It requires a deep water basin to stimulate the conditions of wind, wave, and flow. With the support of Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, MIRDC has called for symposiums for many times to build up consensus for deep water basin construction in the future, as well as visited the international deep water basin benchmarking institute in Europe. Important reference for the construction and planning of deep water basin through the learning from the equipment and environment in advanced countries. It is planned to build a deep water basin with 36 meters in length, 30 meters in width, and 12 meters in depth with the equipment of making wind, wave and flow to simulate the circumstances of offshore wind field in Taiwan in order to speed up the development of offshore engineering technology in Taiwan.
MIRDC established “Maritime Innovation & Industry Promotion Department” in 2020, has employed engineers with educational background and working experience in maritime engineering and hydraulic test. Besides assisting the construction of software and hardware facilities in the offshore engineering center, it plans to cultivate talents through international cooperation in the future. Courses including diver training, underwater vehicle driver training, underwater equipment testing /calibration, and underwater structure testing/ maintenance simulation training, are established and provided the professional test and multiple industrial services. Meanwhile, it also integrates domestic and overseas industry-academic-research capabilities to form different associations to link the whole maritime technology industry, implement technology localization, and continue expanding potential application areas of deep water basin with the expectation of achieving the greatest industrial effect of the offshore engineering center and becoming an important base for offshore wind energy in Asia Pacific Region.