Ørsted's Offshore Wind Industrial Development Fund sees productive results in nurturing talent, technologies to grow local supply chains

TAIPEI, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ørsted and Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC) announced today (19) the results of the Industrial Development Fund which provided resources and knowledge-sharing to help enhance local sub-suppliers' technological capabilities, close the skills gap and nurture talent to sustain the healthy development of offshore wind supply chain in Taiwan.

The initiative, which was backed by a NTD 60 million fund fully sponsored by Ørsted, enabled more than 60 companies to ramp up capabilities required to tap into the offshore wind supply chain. Executed by MIRDC for the past 18 months, the fund enabled 108 people to receive certification for Global Wind Organisation (GWO) safety training, and 82 welders obtained high-level welding certificates.

Moreover, nine companies selected for their innovative research proposals achieved promising initial results. These include research on upgrading technologies such as auxiliary remote welding technology and utilisation of remote operated vehicle to increase work efficiency and productivity.

Christy Wang, Chairperson of Ørsted Taiwan, says: "We are delighted to see these local companies with good potential benefit from the fund and have successfully ramped up their capabilities. Some of them became competent sub-suppliers contributing to the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms and have leveraged the experiences to contribute to other offshore wind projects in Taiwan."

"The fund demonstrates our concerted efforts to help build a healthy offshore wind ecosystem from scratch. This is just the beginning to unlock potential from local sub-suppliers, and we hope to see this spark further initiatives from the government and industry peers, working together to ensure the healthy development of local supply chain and offshore wind industry."

Chen Wei-te, Deputy Director of Maritime Innovation & Industry Promotion Department, says: "There are a lot of local suppliers who are capable and with potential to participate in offshore wind. The challenges are that they don't have sufficient welding skills and offshore wind training such the GWO basic safety training. Ørsted initiated the Industrial Development Fund to assist the local suppliers and sub-tier contractors to ramp up manufacturing capabilities and cultivate talents, in order to foster stable growth of offshore wind local supply chain."

James Wu, Chairman Representative of Tai-Shing Engineering and Construction Co., said through the industrial development fund, the company was able to dive into research on remote auxiliary welding technology. Initial results have showed the technology could increase the yield up to 70%, compared with manual welding. The technology provides somatosensory feedback that helps improve welders' efficiency and working environments often associated with high temperatures.

Huang Cheng-wei, founder of Wei Sheng Industrial Co., Ltd., said he aims to build the company into a leading brand in Taiwan, providing dedicated high-level welding services and to aspire more young talent to join the industry.

Wei Sheng was one of the sub-contractors to Sing Da Marine Structure, providing services to the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms. With the support of the fund, Wei Sheng was able to send eight employees for high-level welding training and became 6G- and 6GR-certified, the highest welding certificate of its kind. Wei Sheng now has more than 70 qualified welding technicians for manufacturing foundations in Taiwan.

Kaohsiung-based Ho Lung Power Engineering Co., which provided cable termination services at the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms, used the fund to send more than 10 employees for GWO safety training. With a total of 60 certified people, Ho Lung is working for more than three different wind farms in Taiwan.