The government is devoted to the development of offshore wind power with the goal of being able to set up 3GW by 2025. With eyes set on even more advanced offshore wind power technologies, Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC) organized the 2017 International Floating Offshore Wind Technology Seminar in the GIS NTU Convention Center on September 8, 2017. The event was supervised by the Bureau of Energy (BOE), Ministry of Economic Affairs, as many prestigious offshore wind technology companies, scholars, and certification bodies were invited from around the world to share the latest technological development trends with the domestic industry.
Dr. Chun-Chieh Wang, a department director of MIRDC, stated during his welcoming remarks that floating offshore wind turbines are being commercialized around the world, which shows that the technology is becoming feasible. He then expressed his hopes to provide an opportunity for members of the domestic industry to engage in discussions during the seminar. The BOE also expressed its hopes to plan the development of next generation wind turbine technologies. The experiences shared by experts from around the world can be utilized by the domestic industry, academia, and research institutes for considering the development potential of floating offshore wind turbines in Taiwan. They will subsequently discuss related technical issues and the development blueprint.
IDEOL and Naval Group, the French companies, American company Principle Power, Professor Krish P. Thiagarajan, a member of the New England Aqua VentusⅠ project team at the University of Maine, and the international certification body DNV-GL were invited to share the latest developments in their field of expertise during the seminar.
The WindFloat project implemented by the American company Principle Power in Portugal in 2011 is the first semi-submersible platform in the world. The Damping Pool designed by French company IDEOL will be installed in France at the end of this year for testing, and will begin trial operations as part of the North Kyushu Offshore Wind Power Demonstration Plan in 2018. Also from France, the Naval Group, formerly DCNS designed a floating structure that will be applied in France's Groix Floating Offshore Wind Farm Demonstration Plan.
Professor Krish P. Thiagarajan, who specializes in the cable system of floating platforms, shared design concepts of the New England Aqua Ventus Ⅰ project, and also pointed out focal points of cable technology development based on characteristics of Taiwan marine environment, providing a direction for future R&D of the domestic industry. DNV-GL shared the current situation and development trends of floating offshore wind power certification around the world from the perspective of a certification body, and explained how its certification services can help Taiwan local companies.
The seminar attracted over 120 domestic scholars and experts. The descriptions and experiences shared by companies provided an understanding of how floating offshore wind power is being commercialized worldwide. This shows that the technology has great prospects for development, and that reducing cost will be the primary objective of future development. Large scale commercialization of floating offshore wind farms can be expected after 2025 and results of the seminar today will help Taiwan take a step in the right direction in the development of next generation offshore wind turbine technology.