Offshore wind energy has just started in Taiwan and the industry is eager for talent. The Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC) actively promotes training for domestic offshore wind talent and is committed to bridging the gap between industry and academia. MIRDC was commissioned by the Bureau of Energy to operate the Maritime Technology Innovation Centre (MTIC), has held themed lectures on campuses, and launched an internship program for matching schools with the industry. This time, MIRDC facilitated and helped the Hai Long Offshore Wind Team’s first internship program with National Sun Yat-sen University. The detailed enrollment briefings and strict selection and evaluation of interns gave students and professors the opportunity to participate in industry practices, and injected outstanding new talent into the industry.

The Hai Long Offshore Wind project site is located at the coast of Changhua with No. 2A (300MW), 2B (232MW), and 3 (512MW) wind farms, which were jointly developed by the Canadian company Northland Power Inc., Singapore’s Yushan Energy Pte Ltd., and Japan’s Mitsui. The total installed capacity of the wind farms is 1044MW. The targeted grid connection for this project will take place between 2025 and 2026. After connecting to the grid, Hai Long Project will supply power to over a million households.

National Sun Yat-sen University partnered with Hai Long for the internship program this year. With help from MIRDC, senior student, I-Chieh Chien and junior student, Cheng-He Chang of the Department of Marine Environment and Engineering stood out from the demanding screening mechanism and won summer internships. They participated in the work of each stage of wind farm development and learned a lot.

The program ended successfully at the end of August 2021. Cheng-He Chang, who joined the Balance of Plant team, said that the internship was inspirational and he obtained a huge amount of engineering knowledge and practical industrial information from the Hai Long team. He also received feedback for the tasks he was responsible for. He was able to grow in a short period of time from communicating with and learning from the team.

I-Chieh Chien, who served as the engineering assistant coordinator for the Engineering team during her internship, she was able to apply what she learned and strengthen her communication skills by practicing receiving information from all parties in the shortest time possible and integrating and summarizing information from contractors and government departments before passing it on to the responsible teams and members. Many external factors occur in the early stages of development. How to cope with emergencies such as weather such that subsequent work will proceed smoothly is a valuable skill she learned during her internship at Hai Long.

In response to this internship program, Shiahn-Wern Shyue of the Department of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, said, “The Master's Program in Offshore Wind Power Maritime Engineering established by the Department of Marine Environment and Engineering of National Sun Yat-sen University two years ago is the first offshore wind research institute of a national research university in Taiwan, where students gain both academic and practical skills through experience accumulated from relevant industry internships. This year, two outstanding students from the Department of Marine Environment and Engineering had the honor of participating in this unprecedented, global-level summer internship program. I believe that Taiwan can establish a foundation in cultivating wind energy talent and continue to lead the development of offshore wind professionals in Taiwan.”

Jun Tamura, Executive Vice President of the Hai Long Offshore Wind Project, thanked MIRDC for facilitating this opportunity and explained that the team is honored to work with National Sun Yat-sen University for Hai Long’s first summer internship program. Although the program was shortened due to the pandemic, the two National Sun Yat-sen University students were not limited by the duration. They asked questions and were proactive, helped the engineering team promote the project, and were heavily relied upon. They also accompanied the team and participated in several meetings with competent authorities. Their performance was amazing.

Currently, Taiwan’s offshore wind energy industry has an urgent need for talent. He hopes that more students will participate in the Hai Long internship program in the future and then join the offshore wind energy industry to create a sustainable environment together. Taiwan hopes to export talent in the future and become the offshore wind talent pool and export center for the Asia-Pacific region.

Global Wind Organization (GWO) recently nominated MIRDC as the Training Team of the Year: Newcomer and the Training Team of the Year: Asia/Pacific for 2021. At the same time, MIRDC completed a number of offshore wind energy industry-academia collaboration projects and continue to devote effort to domestic industrial development. MTIC makes plans for interns to participate in Energy Taiwan activities and organizes many follow-up courses such as expert forums and visits to operation and maintenance sites. In this way, interns can maintain their links with the industry and seamlessly join the booming wind energy industry after they graduate, making the end of their internships the beginning of opportunities. National Sun Yat-sen University’s industry-academia internship program will be implemented each year in the future to help students interested in offshore wind energy join the industry and strengthen talent.

※ To learn more about the 2021 GWO safety awards, please visit https://www.gwosafetyawards.com
※ Fore more news, please contact:
● Maritime Technology Innovation Centre, MIRDC: Scott Wang, Marketing and Sales Manager 0919-828-632, scott.wang@mail.mirdc.org.tw; Contact for industry-academia internship collaboration: Irene Yen ireneyen211@ mail.mirdc.org.tw
● Hai Long Offshore Wind Project: Jewell Hsu, Senior Public Relations Manager 0900-841-211, Jewell.Hsu@hailongoffshorewind.com
● National Sun Yat-sen University: Yi-Hsuan Cheng, Division Chief, Public Affairs Division 0910-160-254, shuan0124@mail.nsysu.edu.tw