An alliance to develop offshore wind power operations was formed yesterday to tap into the commercial opportunities created by a government policy to develop “green” energy.
The alliance, signed at CSBC Corp, Taiwan, headquarters in Kaohsiung, also includes Taiwan Power Co, China Steel Corp, Chunghwa Telecom Co, the Steel Industries Research and Development Center, the Ship and Ocean Industries R&D Center, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, the CR Classification Society and other companies.
Shipbuilder CSBC is to coordinate the alliance and rely on its specialties to jointly plan, install and maintain facilities and train people for the construction of offshore wind-driven generators.
The state-owned firm said that offshore wind power construction is a formative industry, but strong experience and technology provided by alliance members means it is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that exist.
CSBC has engaged in offshore wind-powered electricity generation development in recent years and set up a meteorological and oceanographic observation tower off Changhua County’s Fangyuan Township (芳苑), the first in Taiwan, in July last year.
Sources said Taiwan is well-suited for the development of offshore wind power, because the top 10 natural offshore wind farms in the world are in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan has the potential to develop 11.5 gigawatts of wind power, and could install a total of 5.7 gigawatts, while output value in 2030 could reach NT$700 billion (US$22.25 billion) by 2030 and create nearly 20,000 jobs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Energy said.
The alliance, known as the Marine Team, has set goals in two stages: develop 520 megawatts of wind power by the end of 2020 and develop 3,000 megawatts of wind power by the end of 2025.

The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading

The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,

COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,