Global Maritime Enters Taiwanese Offshore Wind Picture

UK-based Global Maritime has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a number of Taiwanese organisations to develop closer cooperation on offshore wind technologies including marine warranty surveys, inspections and testing services.

The signatories to the MOU with Global Maritime, a provider of offshore marine warranty, dynamic positioning and engineering services, included Taiwan’s CR Classification Society (CR); the Metal Industries Research and Development Centre (MIRDC); the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER); the Taiwan Electric Research & Testing Center (TERTEC); and the Electronics Testing Center, Taiwan.

Taiwan is starting on a process of replacing nuclear power generation with offshore wind, with a stated aim of having 3GW of renewable energy by 2025. In May 2017, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs issued a first ever-commercial operating license for an offshore wind farm in the country.

The partnership with Global Maritime is expected to help accelerate the process, with Global Maritime’s team of master mariners, chief engineers, naval architects and structural engineers providing a combination of regulatory knowledge, operational and technical experience.

“Global Maritime is already well known in many parts of the world for its active involvement in renewable energy, particularly offshore wind marine warranty services,” said Egil Kvannli, Global Maritime CEO.

“This MOU paves the way for greater involvement in Taiwan with our cooperation to include warranty, testing and approvals and demonstrating our long-term commitment to the region. We look forward to helping make Taiwan’s offshore wind goals a reality.”

Global Maritime provides design, engineering, and marine warranty expertise to support offshore renewable operations. Recent projects include marine warranty services for the Block Island wind farm, America’s first offshore wind farm; a recent site specific survey for an offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea; and the provision of mooring solutions for the European Union’s OPERA wave energy project.