Taiwan Offshore Wind Project Certification Alliance Launches

The Taiwanese government has, in cooperation with DNV GL and other classification societies and research centres, launched the Taiwan Offshore Wind Project Certification Alliance (TOWPCA) to promote the localization of its offshore wind sector.

The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), the administrative agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), launched TOWPCA with DNV GL, Metal Industries Research and Development Centre (MIRDC), CR Classification Society, Ship and Ocean Industries R&D Center (SOIC), and the Taiwan Electric Research and Testing Center (TERTEC).

With the formation of this Alliance, the members will work together to provide third-party project certification services for offshore wind farm developers.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by BSMI Deputy Director Linghui Chen. During her address, she shared that the Alliance members had been in detailed discussions for over a year on various topics such as personnel training, field division of labour, and cooperation mechanisms before reaching a consensus on how the Alliance should function.

“Under the leadership of DNV GL’s vast international experience, the Alliance will help to strengthen the third-party project certification capabilities of local legal entities,” Linghui said.

The BSMI has already implemented the first phase of offshore wind farm project certification requirements, ”Offshore wind farm project certification review guideline”, on 23 September 2019. This guideline included site survey and design requirements for integrating offshore wind farm projects into the grid before 2022.

Come December this year, the BSMI will announce a revised scope for integrating offshore wind farm projects into the grid after 2022, which will have third party certification requirements in the manufacturing, transportation, installation, and commissioning phases.

Due to the broadened scope of the certification requirements, offshore wind farm developers would need to be prepared early in their projects to meet these requirements and allocate resources accordingly. The establishment of the Alliance will help ease some of these pressures.

Dr. Kim Mørk, Executive Vice President for Renewables Certification at DNV GL, said: “We have many excellent certification organizations within the Alliance. With the formation of this Alliance, DNV GL will continue to transfer its knowledge of international offshore wind farm project verification standards to strengthen Taiwan’s offshore wind farm project certification capabilities, and provide wind farm developers with world-class certification services to ensure a safe and sustainable growth of the offshore wind in Taiwan.”

Beginning from 2022, the broadened scope of third-party certification processes will be applied to offshore wind farms. The Alliance will help to accelerate the development of talent and build experience in Taiwan, and help developers pass the certification requirements issued by the BSMI as an independent third party, DNV GL said.