Taiya Renewable Energy Hosts Floating Wind Foresighted Technology Seminar at 2024 Energy Taiwan

Taiya Renewable Energy (TRE) hosted the "Floating Wind Foresighted Technology Seminar" on the opening day of the 2024 Energy Taiwan (October 2nd). For the first time, BW Ideol, the leading floating offshore wind company from France, was invited to present the most mature and market-ready floating offshore wind technology to date—the patented "Damping Pool®" technology. BW Ideol also shared its international market experiences, as a technology provider and a co-developer. In addition to BW Ideol, TRE mentioned that other international partners have also expressed strong interest in Taiwan’s floating offshore wind market, and the success of the floating wind demonstration project in Taiwan would significantly boost international confidence.

TRE and BW Ideol signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2022, marking the beginning of a close collaboration to jointly develop the "Huanya Project" off the coast of Miaoli, which successfully passed its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in March 2024. In response to the upcoming launch of the government’s floating wind demonstration project, TRE hosted the "Floating Wind Foresighted Technology Seminar" during the 2024 Energy Taiwan event. For the first time, BW Ideol's reginal business development manager APAC, and country manager Japan, Mutsumi Yamada, was invited to give a presentation, sharing insights on the floating foundation equipped with the Damping Pool® technology and their experience in international development. The Damping Pool® technology has been utilized in full-scale demonstration projects in France and Japan, successfully connecting to the grid and withstanding storm challenges from 2018. BW Ideol is the only one technology provider who has experiences in two locations in Japan and in Europe.

Mr. Yamada also emphasized the excellent performance of the Damping Pool® technology in resisting wind and waves, noting that BW Ideol's floating foundations have endured more than 30 typhoons and waves as high as 9.5 metres, overcoming the challenges of extreme weather conditions. Floatgen project had achieved a 59.2% capacity factor in 3 months in the winter in 2023, and a 66.3% capacity factor in a single month; One of the most important points of Hibiki project is, this floater has been operating under typhoon condition. Up to now the technology of BW Ideol is the only one European Floating technology that has experience in the Typhoon condition.

BW Ideol's floating foundation is capable of supporting the advanced large-scale wind turbines on the market and provides advantages for “high workability” with compact size and shallow draft, it is compatible with most commercial ports. With its operation success, the Damping Pool® technology has been certified by both French and Japanese authorities. This makes it a highly applicable technology under Taiwan's climatic conditions.

BW Offshore, a leading global maritime company, is direct parent company of BW Ideol. BW Offshore has a huge presence in FPSO business in financial capabilities, offshore operation, execution experiences, and so on. BW Ideol is committed to further develop floating offshore wind projects in Europe and APAC, with a goal of reaching at least 10 GW by 2030.

TRE Chairman KD Wu stated that as a regional developer, TRE is actively forming world-class teams, providing a vital link between Taiwan and international technologies. Regarding the future of floating offshore wind, he noted that the government is currently scheduling demonstration projects, and TRE and its global partners believe this is essential for Taiwan’s wind energy to enter the generation next. The success of demonstration projects is successful, it would greatly enhance international confidence in Taiwan’s progression of floating offshore wind technology, making future commercial-scale developments more likely to succeed and increasing the attractiveness of Taiwan's wind farms in the Asian market.

Wu also revealed Taiya’s goal of stepping into Taiwan's floating wind market with partners from around the world remains unchanged. In addition to BW Ideol, more international partners are joining hands, and the good news will be announced once available. Wu emphasized that TRE's two main goals are: driving Taiwan's energy transition, ensuring a smooth and seamless process while actively engaging in local communication; assisting the government in completing the floating demonstration project, enticing more international companies to invest in Taiwan and collectively promoting the establishment of Taiwan’s wind energy industry.