Taipei, 2 November 2023 – EDF Renewables, a major player in the energy transition worldwide with and 11.4GW of net installed capacity worldwide and more than 10-year experience in offshore wind, announces signature of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Cheng Kung University (NCKU). This important partnership agreement will focus on academic and technology cooperation to accelerate the floating offshore wind technology development in Taiwan.
Floating offshore wind has become a new opportunity for renewable energy industry worldwide, as it enables the installation of projects in wind-rich locations which are often situated far from the coast in deep water areas. With this MoU, EDF Renewables will contribute its strength in offshore wind farm development and floating technology in particular, to research conducted by the Offshore Structure & Renewable Energy Laboratory (OSREL), Department of Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering at NCKU. Moreover, EDF Renewables will look for opportunities of offering internship opportunity and as industry lecturer to the university, aiming to provide students great chances to have a rare and in-depth look regarding the industry ecosystem in reality, and cultivate Taiwan’s future talents in this specialty.
Ming-Lung Chang, the General Manager of EDF Renewables Taiwan, stated:” EDF Renewables values Taiwan as an important market in our global footprint, and it’s exciting to see Taiwan is ready to open the chapter of floating offshore wind as it’s more advantageous for the overall environment. We are very delighted to joint hands with NCKU, a well-known academic institute focusing on hydraulic, ocean and environmental engineering research in Taiwan, onto a journey of exploring more opportunities for floating offshore wind development with local community; based on EDF Renewables’ strong expertise, experience, and resource in floating offshore wind.”
Ray-Yeng Yang, Associate Vice President, and Professor of NCKU, stated:” It’s an honor to collaborate with EDF Renewables to offer great opportunity for our future talents to gain more resources on the offshore wind research. This year, we led Team Orein to participate in the Floating Wind Challenge for Kids to test our floating structure at the beach in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, and was finally recognized for two awards. This achievement has made the University to have confidence in floating research, and we will be able to explore more possibilities with support from EDF Renewables in the future.”
EDF Renewables has been very deliciated in years on technology research for floating offshore wind and is currently developing with partners for its first floating demonstration project – Provence Grande Large, with the world’s first use of Tension Leg Platform (TLP) technology. Provence Grande Large has been installed with 25 MW capacity at the location 17km from Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, near Marseille, southern France. It consists of three 8.4 MW floating offshore wind turbines, the most powerful yet installed in France, and will be commissioned in 2024.
In Taiwan, EDF Renewables (80,1%) holds Wei Lan Hai Changhua Offshore Wind Farm (formerly known as Huanyang) for Round 3-1 Offshore Wind Zonal Development with Taiya Renewable Energy (19.9%) located off the shore of Changhua County. EDF Renewables also has Wei Lan Hai Miaoli, an over 1 GW offshore floating wind farm that is currently under development.
About EDF Renewables
EDF Renewables is an international energy company which develops, builds and operates renewable power generation plants.
As a major player in the energy transition worldwide, EDF Renewables deploys, within EDF, competitive, responsible and value-creating projects.
In every country, our teams show their commitment to local stakeholders every day, adding their expertise and capacity for innovation to the fight against climate change.
At the end of 2022, EDF Renewables operates a net installed wind and solar capacity of 11.4 GW worldwide.
Mainly present in Europe and North America, EDF Renewables is pursuing its development by taking a position in promising emerging markets such as: Brazil, China, India, South Africa and in the Middle East. Historically active in onshore wind and photovoltaics, the Company is now strongly positioned on offshore wind and floating wind as well as in new technologies such as energy storage, floating solar and agrivoltaism.
For more information: www.edf-renouvelables.com/en/