Local Fastener Suppliers Have Much to Gain as Taiwan Develops Wind Power

MIRDC has had a significant role in developing a local supply chain of large-sized wind turbines on the Island.

In the near future local suppliers of fasteners hope to develop a sustainable business involving the growth of wind power and the formation of a local supply chain of large-sized wind turbines on the island. And they have to thank for this the efforts both of Taiwan and of the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), the island's leading metal industry research institute that has provided technological support to the endeavor.

Taiwan has inherent advantages for wind power development. During more than six months every year, northeastern winds sweep across the island's central and western coasts, averaging four meters per second, equivalent to a force-three wind on the Beaufort Scale that is strong enough to extend flags. Research by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan has shown that such gentle breezes extend over approximately 2,000 square kilometers of the island, mostly in the northern alpine region, on the western coast, and in the archipelagos off the western coast.

Based on economic feasibility, wind conditions, and ITRI's estimate that some 3GW of wind-generated power potential is available on the island, in 2009 the Ministry of Economic Affairs created the Statute for Renewable Energy Development to facilitate wind power development.

F.C. Chen, an industrial analyst of MIRDC's Industrial Research Section, Planning and Promotion Department, has provided officials of the Industrial Development Bureau who have been directed by MOEA to bolster development of the wind power industry in Taiwan with market and industrial intelligence services. Chen was interviewed by CENS to provide an overview of the renewable energy industry and to share her opinions about the related business potentials for local companies.

Growing Worldwide
Chen said that use of wind power has been growing worldwide, especially after the nuclear power crisis in Fukushima Prefecture in Japan, which followed the massive earthquake that occurred on March 11 of last year. According to Chen, this event has caused a number of countries, such as Germany, to consider no longer relying on nuclear energy, despite the fact that it is economical.

According to Chen, the growing use of wind power worldwide has inspired MOEA to draft incentive-based regulations to encourage local companies to establish exemplary offshore wind power farms. She said that she learned from officials that the island's first exemplary offshore farm should be operational in 2015 at the earliest, and that operators will receive considerable subsidies for wind-power turbine construction and farm operation and maintenance.

"As of the end of September of 2011, Taiwan had already constructed 274 onshore and offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 529.3 megawatts," Chen said, citing the latest report issued by National Science Council. "These turbines can produce an estimated 1.2 trillion watts per hour of electricity every year, which helps cut the production of carbon oxide by 780,000 metric tons."

Taiwan's eagerness to develop wind power in recent years has been connected to the government's decision to shut down all of its existing, obsolete nuclear power plants by 2025. And then it plans on retaining only the No. 4 plant, which is currently under construction. Economic Minister Shih Yen-shiang said that by 2030 the government plans to have established 600 offshore wind turbines with a total generation capacity of 4200MW, which should create business opportunities worth NT$500 billion. These wind turbines will generate three times more power capacity than the No. 1 power plant does currently.

Coordinating MOEA's plan is in the hands of Taiwan's Bureau of Energy, which plans to establish two experimental wind farms off the coasts of the Penghu Islands, with the expectation that the ownership of one will be transferred to the state-owned Taiwan Power Co. while ownership of the other will be transferred to a private company. The Penghu coastal area can accommodate 400 5MW-caliber wind turbines that would serve as a large-sized offshore wind farm with an estimated maximum generation capacity of 8 billion kw/hrs of electricity a year.

A Large Number of Suppliers to be Involved
Production of wind turbines involves a variety of materials such as die forgings, rolled steels, electromagnetic steel plates, resin, glass fiber and carbon fiber, copper and aluminum, and key parts and components including blades, gearboxes, bearings, power generators, power transducers, bases, screws, and bolts. "For instance, the construction of an ordinary 2MW wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 92.5 meters and tower height of 100 meters involves over 8,000 pieces of different parts," Chen said. This means that building a solid supply chain will involve a large number of suppliers from different sectors.

In 2010 Teco Electric & Machinery Co., Ltd., the foremost wind turbine maker in Taiwan, unveiled its 2MW permanent-magnet synchronous wind turbine, which it developed independently during years of research on wind turbine engineering. Company Chairman Liu Chao-kai said that the wind turbine is unlike traditional double-fed induction generator-built models in that it has been developed with a permanent-magnet synchronous generator which features more advanced power-supply stability and power generation efficiency and allows easier maintenance. Liu said that presently Teco is the only manufacturer capable of making such mainstream wind turbines in Greater China.

Chen said that although TECO's achievement might make it possible that Taiwanese suppliers of wind turbine parts will be able to develop their capabilities at home based on business with the local downstream customer, they will still need time to improve their products and prices. For instance, for the time being Teco and local wind farm operators prefer to import spare parts rather than source them locally.

MIRDC's Blueprint
According to Chen, the MIRDC has invited some Taiwanese manufacturers to join its project of forming a supply chain of wind turbine parts locally, which will help them explore the renewable energy sector. "In using the government's resources to help develop products, MIRDC hopes that these products become part of the supply chains of foreign wind turbine makers," Chen said. "In this way the products will become more efficient in the near future."

MIRDC has helped Swancor Ind. Co., Ltd., a large-sized supplier of specialty chemicals, both in applying for GL certificates so that its high-strength resin can be used in wind turbine constructions and in boosting its output to explore foreign markets, with the goal of eventually becoming part of Siemens' supply chain and building a partnership with larger-sized suppliers in China. Another of MIRDC's associate partners that hopes to be a pioneer in developing Taiwan's wind turbine industry is the 41-year-old die casting maker Yueon Guann Casting Iron Factory Co., Ltd., which has decided to establish a factory in Ningbo City in China to tap the local wind power market with the ultimate goal of obtaining contract orders from foreign customers such as Gamesa, GE, Vestas, Nordex, and REpower.

Chen said that the two fastener makers, Boltun Corporation and Fang Sheng Screw Co., Ltd., have shown intense interest in MIRDC's project. Both of these companies have produced large-sized wind turbine bolts and have received help from R&D manufacturers to obtain the cooperation of both Tire 1 companies worldwide and distributors and traders in the United States and European countries in targeting global customers such as Gamesa, Vestas, GE, and Clipper. "When the two makers demonstrated these bolts at the inaugural Taiwan International fastener Show (TIFS) in 2010, foreign visitors were impressed," Chen said. Chen also said that this success has made him more confident that Taiwan will find its place on the global map of wind turbine fastener suppliers.

MIRDC has also received official approval to build a test center in Taiwan's northern city of New Taipei. This test center, to be constructed with world-caliber testing instruments in line with international standards, will allow MIRDC's partners to improve their capabilities and quickly become more competitive with their foreign rivals.

Wind Turbine Fasteners
To ensure consistency and safety in the production of higher-end fasteners, complicated engineering is also needed, Chen said. In many cases it has been shown that fastener failure often causes enormous damage to wind turbines, although the fasteners used do not amount to more than a 1.04% share of the total construction cost of a 2MW-caliber wind turbine.

During the typhoon season in 2008, a wind turbine in the Taichung Port in central Taiwan collapsed largely due to a bolt in the wind-turbine tower being broken. And in March of 2011, the loosening of fasteners resulted in rotors and blades falling from wind turbines near Rugby, North Dakota, in the United States. Since the quality of fasteners is highly related to the safety of wind turbines, the development of the so-called smart fasteners featuring tightening reliability has been a significant concern in recent years.

Fasteners for wind turbines generate much higher margins than do traditional fasteners. "Compared to fasteners made by Taiwan's fastener industry, which at present are exported for an average price of only NT$70-80 per kilometer, screw bolts for assembling blades, for example, can sell for some thousands of New Taiwan dollars each," Chen said. According to Chen, considering that some of the island's fastener makers have built solid global technological reputations, Taiwanese companies should explore the emerging sector, although it will be necessary to establish stricter standards for the structural durability and safety requirements of the new fasteners.

Chen said that specifications and sizes of fasteners for wind turbines and the required standards vary according to different applications. And she provided the following information regarding specifications, sizes, and required standards: a turbine foundation requires anchor bolts with sizes ranging from M36 to M26 and that are subject to ASTM A615, ASTM A771, DIN 6319, and DIN 6330; a tower needs hex cap bolts with sizes from M30 to M64 and that are subject to DIN 6914~6916 and EN14399-4/DAST021; a nacelle uses M30-to-M42-sized hex cap bolts that measure up to ISO4014/DIN931, 4017, and DIN933; the frame calls for M30-to-M48-sized hex cap bolts; and a blade uses M27-to-M42-sized bolts with waisted shanks.

Smart Fasteners
According to Chen, growing concerns about safety in wind turbine construction have led to a focus on smart fasteners whose designs include safety innovations.

The Direct Tension Indicating Bolt is one of the most common smart fasteners, built with the director tension indicator washer that helps engineers make sure the required initial bolt tension is carefully controlled when a bolt is installed. Such smart fasteners have been used widely in construction and have increasingly been applied to wind turbine engineering.

The Permanent Mounted Transducer System (PMTS), developed by Intellifast GmbH to ensure consistency in the bolt tightening process, has also been regarded as an ideal solution to problems in wind turbine bolting technologies.

Bolt tension is achieved through torque, and the time it takes can vary according to material properties and ambient conditions, Chen said. And therefore it is difficult to record this time. The PMTS incorporates ultrasonic measurement technology that materializes the concept of bolts with sensors and allows engineers to control and monitor embedment conditions of bolts and joints even more effectively than they could with other solutions.

The PMTS produces a bolt that goes through the ion vapor deposition and is equipped with the state-of-the-art Piezoelectric Sensor on the head that gives each bolt a 2D data matrix bar code. Engineers use the LP3000B device to identify sensor-built bolts, check bolt tension, and record measurement results. Chen said that PMTS assures not only the reliability of the initial bolt tension, but also data traceability and the maintenance of bolts suitable for wind turbine bolt engineering.

Local Supply Chain Needed
A local supply chain of parts and maintenance services is needed to allow Taiwan's wind power industry to develop sustainably, Chen said. Citing the report issued by TaiPower, she said the company has been concerned about the wind turbines' extremely high maintenance costs, which have been partly due to the expenses involved in acquiring know-how and spare parts that must be imported, and also due to foreign suppliers who, in order to protect their core technologies, usually ask TaiPower to provide full lines of complementary maintenance instruments. "Despite the fact that a total of 274 wind turbines have been installed all around the island since 2000, Taiwan still lacks a solid local supply chain of wind turbines and parts," Chen said. "And this will likely hinder the development of wind power on the island."

Another obstacle to sustainable development has been the underdevelopment of submarine construction capability. Chen said that without large-sized pile driving vessels, 500-ton-and-above crane vessels, and offshore platforms, it is almost impossible for Taiwanese wind turbine constructors by themselves to build bases 12 meters under the sea and deeper. According to Chen, the government can overcome this problem by providing Taiwanese companies with financial incentives both to strengthen their submarine construction capabilities and purchase large-sized instruments, while also allowing stated-owned large-sized enterprises, such as Taiwan Power Co. and CPC Corp., a petroleum refiner with experience in pile driving, to work with private companies on joint development.

Wind Power Developments in the World's Major Countries
Country	Total Capacity of Wind Turbines Achieved by 2020	Feed-in Tariff for Electricity Generated	Local Wind Turbine Supplier
Belgium	2.1 GW	NT$4.508	--
Denmark	4.6 GW (by 2025)	NT$2.92-3.5523	Vestas
Germany	10 GW	NT$7.0365	REpower
France	6 GW	NT$5.478	Areva
United Kingdom	25 GW	NT$7.585	--
Sweden	4 GW	NT$2.8485	--
United States	10 GW (by 2020)
54 GW (by 2025)	--	GE
China	22 GW	NT$2.7657-4.3382	Sinovel, GoldWind
Korea	2.5 GW	NT$6.3	Doosan Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries
Japan	2.1 GW	--	Fuji Heavy Industries
Taiwan	1.8 GW (by 2025)
3.0 GW (by 2030)	NT$5.5626	--

Source: provided from APEC Energy Policy Roundtable, edited by MIRDC