Taiwan’s abundant wind resources is well known and in recent years, wind energy development in near shore coastal areas is heading towards designated capacity.
According to the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan’s offshore areas with water depths exceeding 50 to 60 meters have a significant potential wind power capacity of over 10 Gigawatts (GW). It is therefore evident that the ability to install and operate floating offshore windfarms in deeper territorial waters will be crucial for fully harnessing Taiwan’s rich wind resources. What’s more, the Global Wind Energy Council are clear that close to 80% of the world’s overall offshore wind resource potential is in areas where water depth is greater than 60 meters; put simply – more consistent, stronger winds at deeper water offshore locations typically result in higher wind energy generation yields.
Experience and expertise
Flotation Energy and Cobra, who are developing the Chu Tin floating offshore wind project, have accumulated extensive technical and operational experience in the offshore wind industry.
In consenting and constructing Kincardine floating offshore windfarm – off the East Coast of Scotland, the joint venture partnership has developed what is currently the world’s largest, grid-connected floating offshore windfarm. It is this applied experience, alongside a collective track record in delivering large-scale commercial energy projects to the market that uniquely positions our project team.
Generating first power in 2018, the 50 Megawatt (MW) windfarm, is situated 15 kilometres offshore from the energy capital of the UK – Aberdeen. The floating turbines sit in water depths ranging from 60 to 80 meters and have a combined generating capacity to provide electricity for over 35,000 Scottish homes.
Project pipeline
In addition, Flotation Energy is advancing several floating offshore wind projects, including Green Volt – a pioneering development that is set to become the first commercial-scale floating offshore windfarm in Europe.
Targeting first power in 2029 and having already achieved full onshore and offshore consent, Green Volt also sits off the East Coast of Scotland over 65 kilometres from landfall at the port town of Peterhead.
Developed under Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round, Green Volt’s nominal capacity of 560 MW, will decarbonise the operations of participating oil and gas platforms active in the development site area, as well as exporting clean energy back to the national grid.
Also in the UK, the White Cross floating offshore windfarm is developing at pace, off the coast of North Devon, England. A test and demonstration project set to deliver up to 100 MW of renewable power, White Cross will provide enough energy to power over 135,000 households.
In fixed-bottom wind, the Morecambe offshore windfarm is progressing through the UK consenting process and is set to deliver 480 MW of offshore wind energy from 2029. Following an innovative development regime, the Morecambe realises innovation and collaboration through a shared transmission asset corridor with other offshore wind project developers, progressing sites in neighbouring waters. On the generation assets side of the project, Morecambe was formally accepted in June 2024 to progress to the pre-examination stage of its Development Consent Order (DCO) – a critical milestone in the UK consenting process.
Cobra and Flotation Energy are also developing other exciting offshore wind sites around the world, including in Ireland where there is huge potential in both fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind projects.
The market in Taiwan
Taiwan’s growth in offshore wind has shown initial success. Through technology transfer and self-research and development, Taiwan’s wind power industry has developed a growing supply chain for specialist components and services.
The Chu Tin project is looking to further bolster this industry through our engineering network and established strategic partnerships in the region: Back in 2021, Flotation Energy became partners with CSBC Corporation, Taiwan – one of the largest ship builders in Asia with a focus to develop floating offshore wind projects.
It is clear the Chu Tin offshore wind project team are uniquely positioned to play a key role in the next phase of the development of the Taiwan offshore wind market. By leveraging a wealth of commercial and operational experience, the joint venture partnership will introduce the most advanced floating wind engineering technology, which will in turn assist Taiwan’s objective to decarbonise the economy, ensure security of energy supply and support the objective of achieving 60% renewable energy production by 2050.
For more information on the Chu Tin project, visit our project overview page.
