TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —Taiwan hosted the World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) Asia Pacific Summit 2023 on May 30-31.
The WFO was dedicated to addressing critical common agendas concerning the mid-term development of offshore wind, floating offshore wind, supply chain management, and offshore wind finance in the Asia Pacific region. Carlos Martin, CEO of BlueFloat Energy, delivered a key-note speech on “Unlocking floating wind opportunity in APAC."
At a time when it is ever more apparent that Taiwan has no alternative but to lever all available technology to meet its energy goals, when there are perceptions of turbulence in the market. Taiwan News had the opportunity to meet with BlueFloat Energy’s Carlos Martin, Pierre-Antoine Tetard, Vice President Business Development and Michael Pinkerton, Country Manager of BlueFloat Energy Taiwan to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the Taiwan market.
BlueFloat Energy team: Michael Pinkerton, Country Manager; Carlos Martin, CEO; Pierre-Antoine Tetard, VP, Business Development. (BlueFloat Energy photo)
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, BlueFloat Energy has extensive experience in floating wind farm development and construction. Currently, BlueFloat Energy is developing offshore wind power projects in nine geographies around the globe, including Taiwan.
The WFO provided BlueFloat Energy the chance to reaffirm its vision for Taiwan, with a near-term focus on delivering a floating wind farm demonstration project. At the same time, it is reiterating its interest in developing large-scale floating offshore wind projects as a means of contributing to Taiwan’s net-zero goals.
BlueFloat Energy announced its entry into the Taiwan market in May 2022 and proposed the "Winds of September" offshore wind power project, with a capacity of up to 1 GW. The project is located approximately 25 kilometers offshore from Hsinchu, with an area of over 125 square kilometers, and water depth of 64-96 meters, an area that has not been previously feasible with bottom-fixed foundations.
Floating wind technology, which has been deployed and validated in a number of European countries, could unlock previously inaccessible areas of the sea. This would allow Taiwan to maintain its leading role in offshore wind development in the region.
BlueFloat Energy believes bottom-fixed and floating wind technology should be seen as complementary and can co-exist in any given market.
The "Winds of September" has successfully deployed a floating LiDar, a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to Earth. It can thereby collect meteorological parameters, such as wind, waves, and currents to inform wind resource assessment and floater/mooring design.
The project aligns with BlueFloat Energy’s recognition of Taiwan as a pioneer of energy transition in the APAC region. BlueFloat Energy believes Taiwan will maintain its leadership by forging ahead with floating wind demonstration projects.
Michael Pinkerton, Taiwan Country Manager, said, “As a pioneer of energy transition in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan is well positioned to take the lead by fast tracking floating wind demonstration projects to test various types of floating technologies in Taiwanese waters as early as possible, assessing the logistics, infrastructure and supply chain readiness, as well as further ensuring the suitability of Taiwan’s ports for quayside activities before developing large-scale commercial floating wind farms in the future.”
Encouraged by the government’s plans to deploy floating offshore wind as one of the levers for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, CEO Martin, had the opportunity, while in Taiwan, to meet with Wang Mei-hua (王美花) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
BlueFloat Energy CEO Carlos Martin meets with MOEA Minister Wang Mei-hua. (BlueFloat Energy photo)
Martin believes the discussions with Wang were productive and said, “We very much value Taiwan as our first market in Asia.
"We hope the selection guidelines for the demonstration floating wind project will be announced very soon and will enable highly competent new players in offshore wind, such as BlueFloat Energy, to put its expertise at the service of the emerging floating wind sector in Taiwan. We see the demonstration project as an important steppingstone towards a commercial-scale floating wind farm in Taiwan.”
Whilst it is often tempting to review Taiwan’s offshore wind market as purely domestic, BlueFloat Energy has a much broader vision. By supporting the development of innovative technologies in Taiwan's waters now, the nation can benefit in the future by exporting those technologies to countries such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, and the Philippines —all of which are pushing ahead with their own renewable energy projects.
BlueFloat Energy’s main shareholder is the U.S.-based 547 Energy and it is financially backed by both 547 Energy and Quantum Energy Partners, a leading provider of capital to the global energy industry, with more than US$20 billion in assets under management. 547 Energy invests in and partners with innovative companies and development platforms around the globe that focus on cleantech, renewable power, energy efficiency, grid resilience, or the digitalization of the energy sector.
Time is of the essence, not only for BlueFloat Energy, but also for Taiwan’s wind energy market. The government must calm the market's impatience by promptly announcing the selection guidelines for the demonstration of floating wind projects.
