Work Under Way to Speed Wind Power Development in Taiwan

With Taiwan importing all its fossil fuel and being one of the highest per-capita users of concrete, which consumes ample energy in manufacture, coupled with rising oil prices recently and concerns about global warming as well as exigent need to develop renewable energies, Taiwan is planning to build independent supply chain of wind power.

Taiwan in fact has inherent advantages for wind power development, with over six months of northeastern winds every year that sweep across central and western coasts averaging 4 meters per second, or a force 3 wind on the Beaufort Scale that is strong enough to extend flags. Research by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan shows such gentle breeze sweeps around 2,000 square kilometers of the island, most of which across the northern alpine region, western coast and archipelagos off the western coast.

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

Officials of the Council for Economic Planning and Development said in May that 268 wind turbines with 518-megawatt capacity have been installed on 24 wind farms around the island, generating 12,970 KW/h of electricity a year for industrial and residential use. Since most of the existing wind power farms are onshore, the government will step up developing offshore farms to maximize the island's wind-power capacity.

Development of offshore wind power is being accelerated by the government. The Taiwan Cabinet has set up a taskforce to engage in research and studies; while the MOEA has also drafted incentive-based regulations to encourage local enterprises to set up model offshore wind farms. Officials say the island's first model offshore wind farm will be operational by 2015, with operators to be given considerable subsidies for turbine construction, operation and maintenance.

It makes sense for the Taiwan authorities to spin faster wind turbines to generate more power amid trends to reduce carbon footprint, especially at a time when the government has decided to shut down all the obsolete nuclear power plants by 2025 and retain only the under-construction No.4 plant.

Economics minister Shih Yen-shiang says the government plans to set up 600 offshore wind turbines with 4200MW of capacity by 2030, expecting the construction to create business opportunities worth NT$500 billion, with the capacity of these wind turbines to be triple that of the No.1 nuclear power plant.

Teamwork Necessary
Any major task as expanding wind-power capacity calls for more than governmental effort, but also coordinated work among local enterprises and R&D bodies, with the semi-official ITRI and MIRDC (Metal Industries Research & Development Centre), and the TwnWEA (Taiwan Wind Energy Association) having joined the bandwagon.

Work by these semi-official and industrial groups will decide the success of building higher wind-power capacity in Taiwan, while the MIRDC is already partnering with local manufacturers to develop wind turbine materials and parts, and TwnWEA also looking for experts and engineers to build a cooperation platform to promote wind power, technology and information exchange. Meanwhile the ITRI is also busy learning offshore wind power engineering from European, and American sources to share technologies with local operators. The biggest-capacity wind farm is in Texas; the world's largest wind farm is off the English coast; and Spain is the world's fourth biggest supplier of wind power.

TwnWEA says cooperation between Taiwan and China on wind power development has been underway since 2009 in the form of technological exchanges among enterprises and official authorities. They have come up with several feasible plans to jointly tap wind energy across the Taiwan Strait; but the association says construction of offshore wind turbines is agreed as priority.

Difficulties
After years of work, TwnWEA has unearthed difficulties in developing offshore wind power. Firstly, details of EIAs (environmental impact assessments) have yet to be stipulated, which will hinder progress, especially when environmental groups are leery of offshore wind turbine construction that impacts marine environments. Therefore, TwnWEA is urging authorities to speed drafting EIA parameters to allow construction to proceed.

Taiwan also lacks suitable submarine construction capability. Local builders simply don't have large pile driving vessels, 500-ton-plus crane vessels and offshore platforms, hence making work at 12-meter and deeper underwater literally science fiction. So TwnWEA also suggests that the government provide financial incentives to Taiwanese companies to strengthen submarine construction capabilities and purchase needed equipment.

TwnWEA also calls for governmental assistance in developing an integrated supply chain and attracting investments. Bank financing and financial backing from large enterprises are vital to Taiwanese wind turbine builders, especially when most ignore the importance of pre-construction risk assessment and hence are exposed to potentially huge losses during work. Without such financing and investment, potential operators will be discouraged to undermine progress.

Wind turbine engineering and system integration capabilities also need to be upgraded. Currently Taiwanese builders are at the mercy of foreign experts, so independent development of a sound wind-power supply chain is out of the question.

In short, the surefire way to build sustainable wind-power in Taiwan is by tapping synergy among governmental bodies, R&D institutes and industry insiders, coupled with enhancing technological exchanges with foreign companies.

European Examples
The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) issued a report in July showing that the number of installations of offshore capacity increased 4.5% in the first half of this year compared to a year ago. Some 1,247 offshore wind turbines are fully connected to the grids with total capacity of 3,294MW from 49 wind farms across nine European countries.

Offshore wind farms will continue to supply increasingly more electricity in Europe in the short term, with 11 more offshore wind farms valued at euro 8.5 billion and with capacity of 2,844MW under construction.

Christian Kjaer, CEO of the EWEA, says the European offshore wind power industry still faces potential worsening impact from the general economic crisis; while more banks are investing in offshore wind farms but there is continued need to attract more large institutional investors.

The world's largest offshore wind farm is off the coast of Nysted, Denmark, with 72 SWT2.3-82 wind turbines supplied by Siemens powering 145,000 homes in the country. However, the London Array under construction and scheduled to come online with 175 wind turbines in 2012 will exceed Nysted as the world's largest-capacity wind farm.