CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday inked an agreement to form a joint venture with marine engineering company GeoSea NV — a subsidiary of Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering NV (DEME) — to tap into the market for offshore wind farms.
The new venture, CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering Co Ltd (台船環海風電工程公司), would oversee construction of offshore wind farms and related technology transfers to local operators.
CSBC, the nation’s only listed shipbuilder, said it would hold a greater than 50 percent stake in the venture.
Photo: Yang Ya-min, Taipei Times
Foreign and local businesses are competing for an estimated NT$700 billion (US$23.34 billion) in offshore wind farm projects that are expected to receive approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs after the first quarter of next year, with marine engineering making up 15 percent to 30 percent of the windfall, CSBC chairman Cheng Wen-lon (鄭文隆) said at a news conference in Taipei.
The upkeep and maintenance of offshore wind farms could bring sales opportunities of NT$23 billion each year, he added.
“We have been preparing to meet the government’s local content requirements for the offshore wind farm projects,” Cheng said, adding that CSBC has been collaborating with other international firms specializing in supporting structures.
It plans to launch its own marine engineering fleet, including a turbine installation vessel that is capable of installing turbines rated at between 8 megawatts and 9.5 megawatts, as well as two 140m barges, Cheng said, adding that other specialty construction ships would be acquired through means such as leasing.
GeoSea is a leading specialist in offshore wind farms, and CSBC is hoping to learn and facilitate technology transfers from the Belgium-headquartered firm, Cheng said.
Offshore wind farms are a vital part of CSBC’s efforts to cut its 99 percent reliance on shipbuilding, as it has been battered by low demand for new vessels due to a persistent downturn in the global cargo shipping sector, he said.
However, the company is still expected to end next year in the red, as its new offshore wind farm business will not begin to make significant earnings contributions until 2019 or 2020, JihSun Securities Investment Consulting (日盛投顧) said in a report last month.
CSBC’s losses are expected to narrow next year, JihSun analysts said, adding that constructing wind farms would come with a significant learning curve.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
Nintendo Co hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves on Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third-best-selling video game console of all time. However, despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high”
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips. As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly. “We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing
RSS