The 10 Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) technicians are part of the 22 O&M technicians newly recruited by Ørsted in January, which comprised of 12 WTG, 8 high voltage and 2 balance-of-plant technicians.
The technicians who are going to the UK have completed their onboarding and language programmes, as well as the Global Wind Organization’s safety and technical trainings in Taiwan. During the next eight months, they will be secondees in Ørsted’s UK East and UK West Site Operations Teams and develop their knowledge in various technical aspects of offshore wind farm operations as well as learn the operational safety standards of Ørsted. They will also work alongside their experienced O&M colleagues across a number of operating wind farms in the UK.
Andrew Pittam, Deputy Representative of the British Office Taipei, says:
“We are very happy to see the first group of Taiwanese WTG technicians set to start their training in the UK. The UK is the largest offshore wind market in the world with more than 10 GW installed capacity, and one of the most developed and comprehensive offshore wind O&M operations in Europe.”
“The UK is committed to supporting skills development in the offshore wind industry in Taiwan, which will be essential given Taiwan’s levels of ambition in renewable energy in the coming years. This secondment further demonstrates the close collaboration between the UK and Taiwan in exchanging O&M expertise and knowledge, furthering offshore wind development.”
Christy Wang, General Manager of Ørsted Taiwan, says: “Over the past decade, we have invested over 10 billion British pounds constructing 12 UK offshore wind farms as well as O&M hubs. Ørsted’s investments in offshore wind helped transform coastal communities across the UK through creating high-skilled and long-term jobs, and commercial opportunities.”
“The benefits created by the offshore wind industry is materializing in Taiwan. Ørsted is not only constructing the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms to bring clean energy, but also cultivating talents and creating sustainable value to local communities. This secondment of the first group of WTG technicians fully demonstrates our long-term commitment to Taiwan. We hope that they will inspire more talents to join Ørsted to create a world that runs entirely on green energy.”
Andreas Munk-Janson, Head of Operations of Ørsted Asia-Pacific, says “This training secondment programme is to our knowledge the first of its kind developed by an offshore wind company for Taiwan. It has only been realized because of our global operational setup spread across many regions.”
“The UK region was selected to host the secondment due to its market maturity and well-established experience with the Direct Drive turbine technology and Service Operations Vessels (SOV). This best reflects the setup for the future Site Operations for the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms. We are confident to see our technicians returning to Taiwan by the end of the year with a lot of relevant experience. They will also acquire strong skills and expertise needed to ensure high reliability and availability of the wind farms for the next 25 to 30 years.”
There have been challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic and the trip was only possible through a close collaboration between the two Ørsted regions and with great support from the British Office in Taipei.
Preparations for the O&M phase began in 2019. Some of the key milestones included the contract to charter the first-ever Taiwan-flagged SOV, talent recruitment, and the ground-breaking of Ørsted’s first O&M base in the Asia-Pacific region. These efforts demonstrate the long-term commitment and dedication of Ørsted towards building an offshore wind value chain in Taiwan.
